Problem with .gvfs or .gvfs* in Fedora 11

First, Emacs froze when I tried to list my home directory, then "ls -a" froze from command line. Through trial and error, it appears that there is a file, directory, or special file in my home directory that begins with ".gvfs". Any attempts to list the contents of the directory that should include .gvfs* fails and locks up the program that issued the command; emacs, ls -a in bash shell, etc. The close icon in the upper right hand corner of the frame will cause a pop-dialog to appear that allows the program to be "force quit". Any ideas on how to resolve this problem? Can I safely do a "rm -rf .gvfs*" or will that delete files that my system needs? The command "ls -ad .gvfs*" also locks up which leads me to suspect that .gvfs is a special file, such as a device, instead of a directory. -- Steven F. LeBrun Quote: /"One day a peacock. The next day a feather duster."/ --- Democrat Patrick Quinn, Illinois lieutenant governor