The Knife is Too Dull, Dear Liza, Dear Liza

One day last summer while we were still staying in a hotel, we were walking through one of the old neighborhoods of Sevilla and heard the brief trill of a pan flute. About 30 seconds went by and the trill was repeated and continued to repeat — a little louder, a little closer each time. Finally a man turned the corner walking a bicycle, a pan flute in his right hand. On the back of the bike was a knife sharpener. The pan flute was his calling card as he walked the streets offering his services.

STATE-OF-THE-ART SUZUKI KNIFE SHARPENER.

A short time later we moved into our own place. One morning, I heard the trill of the pan flute, looked down from my balcony and saw the same man walking our street. Since then, we've regularly heard and seen two other pan-flute-playing knife sharpeners announcing their presence. They use the same basic trill, although one adds a little flair by playing one up-scale and then one down. The two guys we regularly see now have their sharpening machines attached to their motos, which they walk alongside. This morning, while enjoying a nice quiet breakfast at Niños del Flor (Flowerchildren) — a café we love but would prefer to not have to walk to every morning but must because El Sanedrín downstairs stopped serving breakfast, heavy sigh — one of these knife sharpeners was parked across the street from the café sharpening knives. The noisy moto acts as the sharpening machine's power generator. Fortunately, he wasn't there very long.

SO MUCH FOR PEACE AND QUIET.

I have never been able to grab a good shot as one of the guys is walking by. This morning I was too lazy to get up and walk closer. I did manage to capture just a bit of the "music" a while back (when we were enjoying breakfast right outside our door, on our own plaza, at El Sanedrín).

 THE PAN FLUTE. NOT MUCH, BUT YOU'LL GET THE IDEA.

Strike Up the Band
As I sat and typed this little post, a small marching band (brass and drums) walked below our windows making excellent music. So nice that things are back to normal in town.