A person can learn a lot about herself by the way she handles moving.\u00a0 Over these past few days of removing my belongings from one place and depositing them in another,\u00a0several of the traits I like least about myself came marching along like those famous\u00a0dwarfs\u00a0carrying\u00a0their going-to-work-tools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As\u00a0I jockeyed for a parking spot and\u00a0unloaded the car several times, I\u00a0bumped smack into\u00a0new-neighborhood patterns and when I finally sat down, exhausted, in the one chair that wasn’t piled with stuff, here\u00a0they came, all\u00a0the Moving Dwarfs:\u00a0Impatient.\u00a0 Tired.\u00a0 Fussy.\u00a0 Even a little bit Bossy.\u00a0 Oh and turning the corner right now, here comes\u00a0Whiny.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
On one my first trips from old house to new, I pulled up in front of this charming cottage in the canyon and\u00a0a woman hurried toward me.\u00a0 She didn’t say hello.\u00a0 She said, “Are you moving in?”\u00a0 (Note for later reference;\u00a0at no time did her conversation include the question “Do you need any help?”)<\/p>\n
I smiled and said yes.\u00a0 She said, without a smile \u00a0(and I’m putting this at the top of my list of things never to begin a sentence with)\u00a0 “Just so you know…”\u00a0 She went on to tell me not to park in that spot – ever – because someone two houses down likes to use it.\u00a0 Here’s another thing she said, and another way a\u00a0person should never start a conversation with\u00a0new neighbors:\u00a0\u00a0“Around here….”\u00a0<\/p>\n
I forget what rules of the neighborhood followed,\u00a0but it doesn’t matter – the un<\/strong><\/em>welcome was complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u00a0followed was the worst of me.\u00a0\u00a0I responded crisply, with two words – “Duly noted”\u00a0 – and trudged on past her.\u00a0 Was that my grandmother’s\u00a0voice I just heard coming out of my mouth?\u00a0 The voice that used to say “Don’t take that tone with me little missy.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, days later, I remind myself that every neighborhood has at least one member of the greeting committee who lays down the rules.\u00a0 It’s just that I don’t respond well to that kind of hello.\u00a0 Instead of the me I like to think exists most of the time, the nice person who gives people the benefit of the doubt, I responded like one of the Moving Dwarfs listed above.\u00a0<\/p>\n After a strong cup of coffee and a glance outside\u00a0through one of the\u00a0many windows that add to the charm of this\u00a0cottage, I am a different\u00a0Dwarf:\u00a0\u00a0 Calm.\u00a0\u00a0Even Contented.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Outside my kitchen window, three giant redwood trees stand.\u00a0 I am awed by them and filled with gratitude knowing that\u00a0while I go about my everyday duties, such beauty stands sentry\u00a0nearby.\u00a0<\/p>\n In front of the house, a\u00a0pushy neighbor.\u00a0 In back, the reason I moved here.<\/p>\n