Silver linings, beautiful life lessons, deep thoughts, and discovering John Lennon did not coin the quote below makes up the stuff I learned this week.
“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”
—Allen Saunders
American writer, journalist and cartoonist Allen Saunders is the author of the line “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”
This gem first appeared in a 1957 issue of the Reader’s Digest, and is mistakenly attributed to John Lennon who included the line in the lyrics of “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy).”
Heat and humidity go with life in Louisiana like gumbo and filé- thick and hot.
In the dead of a Louisiana summer you tend to run the central HVAC system in overtime.
Junk, funk and general debris can get into the evaporator coil inside the indoor unit causing the drain line to clog up.
If the water can’t drain properly, it can’t drain properly which means it puddles, flows, and drenches the carpet and padding.
You would know ours did just that late this past Friday night.
Dave the Builder/HVAC specialist is presently recuperating from a surgical procedure, leaving him unable to perform his unclog the drain HVAC magic.
My determination to DIY the issue while avoiding the dreaded double time charge for a weekend emergency plumbing/HVAC call left me defeated in deep water until Monday afternoon when the plumbers showed up and fixed the problem in less than fifteen minutes.
On a side note, the plumbers did observe Covid-19 guidelines by wearing masks and gloves.
I’ve extracted water, cleaned carpet, sprayed a mixture of 1 cup vinegar and 2 cups water over the soaked areas to prevent mildew growth, plugged in and unplugged the 3 speed portable blower (love, love, love this little godsend of a tool), and cursed enough to send my soul to hell several times over.
To say it’s been a witch of a mess is an understatement, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
In between waiting on carpet to dry and paying close attention to the local, state, and world news of late (speaking of a mess), I treated myself to a glass of peach iced tea and a movie.
The Enchanted Cottage starring Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young is a love story set within a beautiful life lesson where a house (in this case a cottage) is central to the story.
TCM has the film available on their Watch Now option – link here.
A synopsis:
Filmed in black and white, the story revolves around a a cottage born out of the ruins of the main house of a countryside estate razed by a fire. Legend goes the original owner remodeled the wing to rent out as a honeymoon hideaway.
Current owner widow Abigail Minnett seeks a housekeeper for the cottage, and this is where Laura Pennington enters the picture.
Homely in appearance and in her world all alone, Laura is searching to belong and falls under the spell the cottage cast.
To this day Mrs. Minnett remains deeply saddened and affected by the death of her husband during World War I.
Feeling an instant kinship with Laura, she hires her, informing her she will work in the capacity of housekeeper for the engaged couple who have rented the cottage for a three month honeymoon stay.
Soon the couple, Oliver Bradford and fiancée Beatrice Alexander, arrive where Beatrice’s disappointed with the cottage’s simplicity.
Where Oliver sees quaint and cozy and Beatrice sees simplicity, Laura sees the beauty and the allure in the enchanted cottage, voicing her enthusiastic infatuation with the surroundings.
War, duty, and a severe injury to his face and arm stands between Oliver and Beatrice’s nuptials. One year later after the accident, a telegram from a dejected Oliver arrives stating his intention to rent the cottage for an indefinite period of time.
He does not mention the accident, injuries, or even that the wedding has been called off. Mrs. Minnett and Laura prepare the cottage expecting to greet the newlyweds, and quite shocked when Oliver arrives alone to the cottage, his face horribly disfigured and his arm disabled from an airplane crash.
Olive has grown angry, bitter, and consumed by self-pity however, he does favorably respond to Laura’s compassion and common sense.
Through the example and words of blind pianist John Hillgrove, the brother of the town’s doctor who lives next door to the estate, Oliver accepts his physical disabilities.
Growing closer to Laura with a renewed sense of life finds Oliver and Laura in a period of happiness. Three weeks later, Oliver receives in a letter an ultimatum from his rather overbearing mother: move home or she will move in with him.
Wanting nothing to do with either option, Oliver hastily proposes to Laura and she says yes.
Soon after their wedding, Oliver and Laura invite John Hillgrove to the cottage where they share with him they have experienced a physical transformation.
Laura reveals both she and Oliver believed their marriage a farce until a development on their wedding night.
As she began to voice her devotion to Oliver, the room suddenly filled with enchanted music and she saw Oliver as he was before the accident.
Oliver comes to quickly realize he is truly in love with Laura, seeing his new wife now as a beautiful woman.
Their mutual illusion is soon destroyed by the arrival of Oliver’s mother and stepfather. Insensitive and clueless in nature, Oliver’s mother and stepfather see only the imperfections in Laura’s and Oliver’s physical appearances, strongly voicing their feelings shattering the love is blind illusion.
Mrs. Minnett speaks up to console the newlyweds by stating the obvious- their true and unblemished love sees past flaws and imperfections, and in doing so gives them a beauty restored by love and a gift of sight unlike any other.
Loves conquers all, folks.
Sadly, our beloved neighbor passed away last week from Covid-19.
The entire family, fully vaccinated, contracted breakthrough Covid-19 with two recovering and Mr. Don sadly falling victim to this horrific virus.
Keeping the tradition of bringing-sending food when someone dies is rooted in comfort, love, caring, and the purpose of trying to make life somewhat easier in the face of extremely uneasy periods.
This treasured note of thanks and written in neighborly love makes me both sad and happy.
♥♥♥
Thank you, friends, for allowing me to share, show and tell you about the stuff I learned this week.
Take me home, country roads and See Rock City signs!
