his name is Larry.

The other morning I was driving to work, Mr. Mister sang,

"The wind blows hard against this mountainside
Across the sea into my soul
It reaches into where I cannot hide
Setting my feet upon the road..."

It was timely.

The sun had been up for hours and already woken the trees. The lakes seemed to be winking at me the way the sun shimmered on them. I was pulling down the rear view mirror trying to put my last bits of makeup on. The "Kyrie Eleison.." part of the song played now. I always love that part.

I pulled into work only to have my quaint little drive shattered in embarrassment. I'm driving stick now. I'm in a constant state of stress and panic. Stopping is my worst nightmare and I avoid hills of all kinds, even bumps. They are so mean to me.

I pulled into my normal parking spot and sighed a breath of relief... then I looked up. Dang it!!! There was a trailer in the grass in front of me and they needed to get it, so I had to move. I had to put it in reverse in front of everyone. And I was on this huge hill! Actually it was this tiny little bump, but it's all the same with stick. I turned off the music so I could hear the car. I got it into reverse successfully and slowly rolled back. I shoved it into first and for some reason my little hands were shaking. Settle down, Sienna, just settle down, I said. But the hill didn't want to be my friend that morning. The car cut out. It wasn't too loud, maybe they'd hadn't noticed. I turned it back on and tried again, no go. It was out. I tried again... out. Oh gosh. "Listen to it, Sienna...just listen." At this point I was a little over zealous and pushed the gas way too hard. It screeched and jerked violently and cut out. Now the guys sitting on the picnic tables turned around and stared, smiles on their faces, soaking up the morning entertainment of the new girl they all knew had just learned stick. My boss even happened to come outside and walk past, with an annoying little grin on his face... "a little rusty" was all I muttered shyly. I closed my eyes and asked God to PLEASE help me. I turned the car on and the hill finally decided to be my friend. I got out of the car and pulled out my cell phone (that doesn’t work) and pretended to be talking to Signe. "Hey girl... yeah. I know... you got this though, you can do it... just go get some chocolate. We’ll rent a movie tonight, okay? love you too..."

I know I’m pathetic. But I couldn't walk alone past those smiling guys... man!

The rest of the morning, as I cleaned, I kept laughing about it.
It's actually pretty funny looking back.

At work I have a friend. His name is Larry. He came from Holland with his wife and he works as the plumber at Troll Mountain. He's the only plumber, I'm the only cleaner and the rest of the employees are rafting guides, so Larry and I sort of stick together. When I asked him why he moved to Norway he said because Holland is way too expensive and taxes are 60% or something. I asked him how he adapts so well with the language and all... He looked at me and said simply, "you just learn it." Hmm. I wondered why I hadn't thought of that.

Larry has been a real friend to me. I won't see him anymore because I had my last day of work on Friday and will soon be coming home. Larry can tell when I'm down because I don't hide it very well. One day I was cleaning a cabin in the very back of this resort and my supervisor, Kai, had given me no mercy all day. I could do no right and my spirits were depleting by the second. Larry showed up at the door. It surprised me because the cabins are far away from the rest of the place and Larry would have had to walk all that way, taking time from his work. "Don't let her get to you”, he said, “She does it to all the new ones. You're her b**** right now. I was too in the beginning but then you came, and I’m free. Stick up for yourself though and don't worry, okay?! It's not worth worrying about. It's not you, it's her. Just do your job well and worry only about that. You're doing a good job, by the way."

It was all I needed. He doesn’t know much English so it's hard for him to understand me all the time... So I said in as few words as I could. "Thank you... I really needed that. And I really appreciate your kindness." He nodded and then proceeded to tell me his entire Holland tale. It was a little stressful because I was supposed to be working and I was ready for Kai to pop out any second. But I just enjoyed his story and was happy for his friendship.

When Brae taught in China, written on a map in her bedroom were the words: "everyone just needs to be accepted." She kept this in mind when she taught her students and I witnessed how hugely she accepted each one of them and how aware she was of the importance in that. That's all I needed at Troll was to be accepted and told that I belonged.

Larry is a good man.

He accepted me and reminded me, through his friendship, to accept others. And I am grateful for that.