This past Tuesday my husband and I went to our property in the country to do some maintenance on a couple of our cameras. The bottom of the access road to the property had washed out with all the recent rain so we parked halfway down and hiked in. We did our chores, hiking and exploring along the way, and then headed back up the access road to the jeep. As our vehicle came into view, I heard my husband say, ‘there is a box on the hood of the jeep.’ Upon further inspection, we discovered it was a box addressed to a neighbor across the meadow.
Now, I need to do some ‘splainin’. Our property is in a very rural area. There are some roads on maps apps that have been planned and not executed. If a person is not familiar with the area comes in to deliver stuff, it could be a nightmare!
My story is that the delivery driver, brought in because of the work force shortage and the crush of the holiday delivery push, was not familiar with the neighborhood and was trying to get to the neighbor’s address via a road that did not exist yet. And our jeep was blocking the way to him finding out. So, they just left the package on our jeep and continued in their monumental task of delivery.
We decided to be a good neighbor and deliver the misplaced package, then go get lunch. We were hungry from all that hiking.
When we turned the jeep around and headed back up the access road to the highway, we noticed a strange object blocking our way. It was a parcel carrier. I hopped out of the vehicle and investigated. There were three more packages in there. Obviously, the parcel carrier had fallen off the truck as the driver made their way up the rocky unpaved road.
We looked at each other and asked, what do we do with this situation? We decided to call the delivery company and report our findings. The customer service rep informed us, after we had to explain the situation a couple of times, that since the packages were not our orders, they had no way pf processing our call and we could do anything we wanted with the packages. We could keep them. We could donate them. We could throw them away if we wanted to. The people who ordered the packages would report them not delivered and the order would be sent out again. OK.
So, once we determined that we would not be prosecuted for theft, we decided to play Santa for an afternoon and deliver the packages to our townsmen and women, and off we went!
At our first stop, we approached a building where the there was a screen door with the front door open. I knocked and peeked in to see a woman rocking a sleeping baby who was motioning to me, a complete stranger, to enter her house. Once inside, I asked her if she was the person whose name was on the package and she said yes. I continued with, ‘you’re never going to believe this….’ and proceeded to tell our story. About half-way through the exchange, her husband came in with a quizzical look on his face and my husband filled him in. Turns out, the couple had lived for three years in the place we had just moved from. Coincidence? I think not! They very kindly invited us to visit a while more. We said thank you!, we have more packages to deliver! And, off we went!
Our second stop was a bit more secluded and our map app had us drive into a yard that wasn’t the correct address. We were understanding what the delivery driver must have gone through. The person in this house knew the person the next package was addressed to and offered to take it to them. This home-owner worked for the local post office and was familiar with packages being left helter-skelter all over the place. Customers had been coming in to the post office complaining about their packages, which had been entrusted to other carriers, being found in the ditch or along the road. No reasoning could calm them down. Even when they were reminded that the post office had no power over those other carriers. All delivery methods were now one!
The final stop was our neighbor’s house across the meadow from our property. They were not at home so we left their package on their porch, safe and sound. On the road, which was only wide enough for one car, back to the highway, we saw another car approaching which kindly pulled over so we could pass. My husband and I looked at each other with the same wonderment, ‘Do you think those are our neighbors across the meadow coming home?’ We pulled up even with them, stopped and rolled down the window. ‘Are you the (our neighbor across the meadow’s name)? They said yes! And we told them our story. While we were talking, our other neighbor drove up behind them, so we repeated our story for them. Before we left that spot, another delivery company’s truck drove up behind them. We were coming full circle.
With our Santa duties complete, off we went in search of lunch knowing that we had met some new neighbors, and saved some people some grief.
We also want to send lots of love out to all those road warriors delivering packages, charting their way in unfamiliar territories so we can get our stuff. The system is not perfect. Then, neither are we. Companies, individuals are dealing with things they have never dealt with before. Thank you Universe, for providing us with opportunities to stretch ourselves in the areas of compassion, patience, peace, understanding, love, and kindness.
With Love (n whatever way you celebrate this time of year),
Michal Donna
Michal Donna Astrology 