We went out to throw the frisbee around for a while. This turned into standing around talking in the pleasantly cool weather, but finally we decided, seeing Carly staring at us from the window, that maybe we should go home. On the way, I realized that I couldn’t remember whether I’d left the door unlocked. We were just across the street, and I usually leave the door unlocked so I don’t have to carry keys when I’m running around. Well, those keys sure would have been handy, because I had, in fact, habitually locked the door.
I’ve done this before twice that I can think of. Once, the weather was warm enough that the windows were open, so I lifted the screen on one and crawled in. The second time, I had my phone with me (and Carly — we’d been walking), so I called the landlord and he let us in. This time, no phone, no easily accessed open windows. Our bathroom window was open a crack, though, so I climbed up to the ledge and tried to open it. The top was cracked, but it was a couple feet out of reach, and I couldn’t pry the bottom open without more leverage.
Right around this time, one of the neighbors walked by, someone we hadn’t met before. She asked what was happening and she offered her phone to call the landlord. Lisa made the call, still being on the ground and in easy reach. He was reticent, but said he’d do it. I still wanted to get in without his help because last time he said he was supposed to charge us for lockouts, and I didn’t want to do that. He called back a couple minutes later to check in, and I told him we’d figure it out, and I’d call him if we really needed help. Spoiler: he turned out to be near the Indiana border, so it was best that we figured this out ourselves. It would have been a long drive for him and a long wait for us.
Pretty soon, a couple more neighbors walked by, and they got interested. We all introduced ourselves, everyone was very friendly and offered to help. After batting around some ideas, we ended up getting a screwdriver to get some more leverage on the bottom of the window. This worked in short order, and we were greeted by an interesting sight that made me wish I had my camera: Carly was in the bathtub with her front paws propped up on the ledge, sniffing and whining and wondering What The F was going on out there. She had seen us coming home, and was probably wondering why she could hear us outside but we still hadn’t come inside while Mysterious People were rattling the front door and messing around with the bathroom window. It was adorable and hilarious. I climbed up, told her to get out of the tub (she did, picking up a toy she’d left next to it on her way), and got in.
It was quite an adventure, mercifully brief all things considered, but a fun way to meet some new people. I hope to see them again when I’m not climbing around trying not to fall into the shrubbery.