Old movies­­-life imitates art

When I’m not in the mood to watch one of the binge-worthy shows on Netflix or Prime, I turn to TCM and watch old movies, some of which are art to me. Recently, I watched a movie that I hadn’t seen in years, called The Egg and I with Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert. The movie is very old, in fact, it was released before I was born. It’s the story of newlyweds; Fred MacMurray (the groom), has just announced that he has purchased a ramshackle old farm, and they are going into the business of raising chickens and selling eggs.

I can relate. Although, I have no intention of raising chickens, even though I’ve become addicted to fresh eggs, our once ramshackle house has been in remodel mode since December 2018. We have replumbed the entire house and guest house, re-wired, added new lighting, new siding, three roofs, new bathrooms, flooring, HVAC, windows, doors, painting. We have planted vegetable and flower gardens, added inground sprinklers, and lastly, the kitchen.

We have finally succumbed to the fact that the house has its “quirks.” There is nothing square or plumb, in any room. Some pictures are hung level with ceiling, others with the floor. The trim on the new kitchen cabinets is triangular, to accommodate the large spaces between the cabinets and wall near the ceiling, then narrowing towards the floor.

We’ve decided to live with the crooked kitchen window. If anyone comments on it, I will diplomatically suggest that maybe they had one too many drinks, or convince them, it’s an optical illusion. And the toilet in the bathroom, it’s not slanted, it’s your imagination. Again, drinking too much?

In the movie, Claudette Colbert (the wife) has to refurbish an old stove which evidently has a mind of its own, as well as being antagonistic to her. I feel her pain. Fortunately, my appliances are new, but it did take four months of calling LG to replace the icemaker on my brand-new refrigerator. I bought ice the entire summer, it was fixed in the winter.

Old houses are money pits, they are frustrating, and certainly have their idiosyncrasies. But they have character, charm and have kept us challenged. We are now in the final stage of our kitchen remodel. Frustrating and challenging are just a few choice adjectives to describe this process.

It always seems, there is something that holds up the final, “we’re done!” We have arrived at that point. Some of the trim is missing and some trim wasn’t done properly (a redo is promised). The new cabinet doors have arrived, however, the glass hasn’t. The glass inserts were promised to us last week, another promise not kept. The bright side, I don’t have to open the cabinet doors to put dishes away.

In The Egg and I just as their remodel is completed and Fred MacMurray is attempting to forge a contract with an egg buyer, their house, chicken coop and barn burn to the ground. The people of the town unsuccessfully try to put out the fire. The next morning, their neighbors reappear at the burnt house with lumber, nails, paint, labor, chickens, etc., Because as one of their neighbors’ comments “…it could have happened to any of us,” and “…as a community we will always be there for one another.”

After all the updated electrical work we have done, our house better not burn down! But, if it did, I would bet that our neighbors would be there for us, just as we would be for any of our neighbors. Waitsburg is just that kind of place!