Yesterday I was visiting my good old greek friend since youth, Doris (Theodotti), who lives with her friend since some years in an suburb of Nuremberg - a far way to go..
because I have to use byke, then tram, then subway, then bus, then walk about an kilometer (we don't have miles here) & on all those stations you have to wait an undefined longer or shorter time. We had planned this visit since long time
When at last I arrived there - it was just at the beginning of dawn, I rang the bell once, twice, thrice - waited there for a while & then rang again & again & again - hmm we had called an hour before & I knew she was there - I saw light in the first floor. But no-one opened.
She lives in a single house with 2 stories - she & her friend on the second floor - his mother on first floor. This nice little house is surrounded by a big garden, big behind the house & about 5 meters distance to the street & of course like all German gardens it is totally surrounded by a strong fence.
I stood at the fence door, where 3 bells were situated & rang for minutes one bell after the other in all combinations & intervalls I could invent (may to find the right code). Usually the gate was unlocked - so you could open it, go directly to the house where again 2 bells were at the front door - but these 2 bells - I knew - were broke since long.
So probably the bells at the fence-door didn't work too anymore? - yes very probably!
I knew she was waiting inside & hated to just leave after this long tedious trip. But there had to be a way to come in.
Usually the fence-door is open, but was this evening already locked. -
Also the bigger 2 winged gate for the car was locked.
How could I make them notice me - I'm no cellphone wearer, but now it would have come in quite handy (little word game because Germans call cellphones 'Handy').
I tried to whistle, but of course that wasn't much loud. So I dared hesitatingly to shout, very softly indeed, because I'm not good in shouting, because I fear, someone could hear me shouting & personally I hate shouting people. So I shouted a few times 'hello, hello!' - looking carefully around wether some neighbours got aroused by my shouting & indeed my shouting was some degrees louder than whispering (really daring!).
Hmm - there had to be another way - I thought about throwing little stones at the kitchen window (the way you know it from Twain's 'Tom Sawyer tales', were I saw light, but no movement - but gave up this idea, because that might would smash the window - not a nice start of a visit. -
If I could get in the garden behind the house, where the windows of their living room may be reached..
This fence was relatively high to climb it - in my youth that would have been no problem to climb there over (at age 10 to 14 we could climb any kind of fences & walls - even if the walls have glass spikes on top), but I felt a bit shy & also clumsy & rusted by age to try that.
But the bigger 2 winged fence gate for the car, also locked would maybe be my chance. Since my youth I know the trick how you can open them generally - On the middle of this gate I reached over the fence & raised the metal lever there put in an hole in the ground to fix the gates. With my fingertips I just could reach & succeeded after a while to lift it. So after some effort I could press the gate wings inside, till they unlocked & I could finally enter. Of course I took care to not damage it by burglaring it open.
Meantime it was about 10 minutes that I was awaiting outside. So at least inside the garden - of course the bells on the door were in in vain, but I tried them anyway - why not try? -
Next opportunity now was the garden behind that house - but I also saw another opportunity: there was a scaffold on the house - they probably are about painting the house a-new. - So my last try to make them notice me, would be to climb up on that scaffold to second floor & knock there on the window.
But then I had a much better idea: I'll Xaphoon them out!
On the 'Bards festival of music' (Bardentreffen) some weeks ago - I had bought from a street vendor a flute like looking musical instrument - the vendor played little tunes & sold them - it looks like a flute, but sounds like as saxophone or clarinette.
And I had brought this instrument with me, just to show it to Doris & her friend Heiner - hmm - thinking about the walls of Jericho that tumbled down when the walked there around 7 times trumping the trumpets & thinking about the cartoon of the wolve & 3 piggies who blew & blew until the houses revealed their contents -
So I played a little tune directly on the front door - this Xaphoon is really very loud - & within seconds I saw light in the staircase & Heiner came down & opened the door.
So - Xaphoons are really usefull - they open any door for you.
I like this little handy instrument although it's hard to play for a beginner - it has the blades likes saxophones etc. & you need a certain technic of breath to rule it -I just have started learning it & still can't play a real melody on it, but at least I can meanwhile get some clear tones out of it.
This is my Xaphoon: - I took the ruby version - the price was about 70 Euros - the black version is 10 Euros cheaper - but I prefered the dark ruby - it's darker than on this picture:
To listen how it sounds & maybe to order it - I can highly recommand it - look at:
