After reading Eden and Kat's stories about fert music appreciation (flute,
pennywhistle, clarinet) I just HAD to tell mine.
 
I play a whole assortment of percussion & woodwinds, and there is an endless
array of musical things around here for "the kid" to poke her nose into
(sometimes literally).  One day I was teaching an Arabic piece on my
doumbek-- it's a cast aluminum drum with a transparent head-- when, all of a
sudden, the tone just dropped right out of the drum & all I got was a
muffled PFFFWATTT sound (and this drum is louder than billy-be).  I looked
down and there was this little fert face looking out at me through the drum
head!  We both went into gales of laughter.  Crazy little monster... that
drum is loud even when you're not sitting inside it... and she seemed to be
enjoying it!  The little nut likes rattles, too.  She'll often disappear
into one of her cubby-holes, and when we want to retrieve her and put her to
bed, all we have to do is pick up a rattle & begin shaking it outside her
cubby (the Mexican tin rattle works the best).  Pretty soon, out she comes,
following the rattle wherever it goes.  Very shamanesque!  (we haven't tried
the digeridoo on her yet).
 
If she's REALLY sound asleep, more drastic measures are called for.  We haul
out the dreaded woodwinds!
 
No matter where TL is, if she hears a woodwind, out she comes!  We first
discovered this with the pennywhistle (the recorders don't wind her up as
much... probably because they're lower pitched).  The minute she hears a
woodwind, she comes charging out and crawls up onto the perpetrator's lap,
dooking and looking anxious.  She'll often try to crawl up on my shoulder
and lick my face to make me stop.  Her other technique is to ambush me on
the floor and puppy-bite my leg.  She'll continue the attack until I cease
and desist!  So now Dave & I call her "The Woodwinds Police." The ones that
really perturb her the most are my reed instruments-- I've got an Arabic
mizmar (a screechy oboe) and a Indian been (a loud, whiney snake charmer's
flute).  The last time I played my been, I was sitting on the floor (no
snake) and she charged at me, ran under my dress, and started hissing.  I
stopped playing-- it was looking too much like a potential "close encounter"
of the Jaws type.  The minute I stopped, she settled down and took a nap,
right where she was.  So I can attest to the fact that snake-charmer's
flutes work on fur-snakes, too.  Try it!
 
The best story of all-- We've had TL since November, have been
super-cautious, and she's NEVER gotten ouside.  Never say never!  The
electrician was here the other week.  After he left, we thought all the
doors were secure, but... apparently the back door was closed, but not
latched.  She must have stood up, given it a shove, and pushed it right
open-- the next thing we knew, it was ajar-- and no TL!!!  So I frantically
made a token search of the house (I just KNEW she was outside, though) while
Dave headed outside to look for her.  It must have been a real treat for the
neighbors... Dave creeping around the house and through the bushes, playing
"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" on his pennywhistle (her favorite song).  By
the time I got outside, he was walking down the lane in front of our house,
playing his pennywhistle and peering around.  Yeah... the neighbors think
we're wierd and I guess they're a little scared of us... Anyway, there was a
happy ending.  TL had been investigating the neighbor's trash bag, and had
headed under her porch steps.  When Dave approached her, playing the
pennywhistle, out she came... trotted right up to him, COVERED with cobwebs.
Needless to say, we now keep all doors shut and locked.  She hasn't figured
out how to unlock the doors, but she now checks the back door religiously--
about five times a day, just to make sure.  Oh, and as far as her favorite
song goes... Dave's sister gave her a little stuffed elephant that plays
"Twinkle" when you push its belly button.  The day she got it, she carried
it off under the bed and went to sleep with it next to her head.
 
Toot, toot, dook-- munch!
 
Isabel Two & Tristan's Lady (The Woodwinds Police)
[Posted in FML issue 1659]