The Kindness of Strangers...

Well, Dude and Napoleon have a new home.  Away from my angry neighbor and threats of county involvement...I pray they are happy in their new home.  I also pray they are safe and loved and lead amazing lives.  It was weird this morning not hearing Napoleon crowing all the time.  Eerily quiet.  I can hear the girls out there now, waking up, but no early morning squawking!  I hope my neighbor is happy now.  No, I don’t mean that snarky, I really do hope she is happy and will now let me live my life without further intrusion by her...

I am very grateful to the family that took them.  Just lovely people who have the space and are willing to help out a total stranger.  I love living in this town, where sometimes, the people you don’t even know treat you better than the people who live right next door!

Makes me reflect on how often I have been held or changed or supported by the kindness of strangers...

Someone finding my purse, wallet or phone and bringing it back

Someone receiving a mis-delivered package of mine and bringing it to me

People being willing to take my roosters and give them a good home

People who have helped my kids when they were out and in need of assistance

People who hold the door open for me

People who offer to take my cart back to the front of the store

People who show up in the most unexpected ways but at the perfect time

This whole deal with my neighbor could have really soured me on people again.  But, I have not let it get to me.  And I do understand where she was coming from...Napoleon was disruptive and loud.  I didn’t like his constant crowing either!  I did not!  I guess what I really minded the most was the note on my car, so impersonal.  And I know, the history this particular neighbor and I have probably lends itself to written correspondence over verbal...but it continues to bother me that someone I have lived next to for over a decade still cannot give me the benefit of the doubt.  That she has decided who I am and how I show up and will not ever alter her opinion no matter how much evidence I give her to the contrary...

I guess familiarity really does breed contempt.  And that makes me extra happy about the kindness of strangers, because if I had to rely on the kindness of association, well at least with this one person, I would be fucked.  I am very blessed to have good neighbors all around.  People who come to me and talk to me about hard things, bring up concerns, express disappointment or issues.  And we work it out, every single time.  No issues remain.  We get along, we respect each other and we are here for each other.

Makes me sad for this one neighbor really.  She is missing out on a lovely community that is now two roosters freer.  Which could have been a lovely opportunity for healing.  She could have brought this to me and she would have seen that I too was bothered by the constant crowing.  We could have used this issue as an opportunity to repair.  But alas, nope.  Just not in the cards for her.

I am grateful that Dude and Napoleon have new digs and they are with people who love them and are happy to have them. I am grateful that Napoleon can crow his brains out now.  And I am doing my best to not let the cryptic threat from a disgruntled neighbor underscore a distaste for people.  There are lots of wonderful people in the world, we just don’t always get to live next door to them.

Or in my case, I do, just not on one side. And I suppose that is ok.  This difficult neighbor has become a spiritual barometer for me...if I hear out in her yard and think, “that fucking bitch” is out there again, I know that I am off my spiritual plane and have some work to do...but if I hear her and think, “oh, so-in-so is out there” then I can proceed with my spirituality intact and underway.  We don’t always get to pick our lessons...or our neighbors, so thankfully we have the kindness of strangers.

Again, still...