Change of Plan

When preparing to write this afternoon the phrase came to me, "The best laid plans of mice and men....." but I couldn't for the life of me remember who had written the phrase I've so often quoted.

This sent me on a quest to locate the origin and completion of said quote. (Of course, this type of activity would be impossible if we hadn't already started our vacation today.) Thanks to Google.com I'm able to report to you that most of us are aware of this quote because of the book by John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men. However, Mr. Steinbeck is not the originator of this statement. (Que suspicious sounding organ music.)

It actually comes from a poem written by Robert Burns in the 1700's; based loosely on an experience he had when inadvertently plowing up the winter nest of a field mouse. (I hear the collective "hmmmmm" all the way over here in Winter Haven. Smile.) No significance to all this literary rambling - just interesting to me in an odd way.

At any rate, the report of today is that for some reason the Lord has allowed us to be temporarily delayed in heading out for vacation. Our main vehicle is experiencing some technical difficulties. The first problem came up on Friday afternoon; just as Frank was coming back to the church to be slimed. (Yes, the girls won and Pastor Frank was the "slim - ie"! Whew, dodged that bullet.) He was able to take the car to our mechanic but he doesn't work on Saturdays. So we planned to leave around 10:00 this morning.

Fortunately, once the mechanic had the electrical problem resolved he discovered that our air conditioner was not functioning properly. FORTUNATELY?! Yes, I chose that word because we try really hard to choose to see "interruptions" in our scheduling as having purpose.

For example - the electrical problem happened while Frank was driving and he was only ten miles from our mechanic at the time. While this was naturally frustrating, we had to remind ourselves that just 24 hours earlier I was navigating a rain storm on I-4 in bumper to bumper traffic coming home from Orlando; post-op appointment with Meagan's surgeon.

And it's true that we had our instant gourmet coffee already packed and ready for use on the beautiful front porch overlooking our mountain destination (which we would have reached right about, ummmm, NOW.) But we're also thankful that something as major as our air conditioner malfunctioned near the guy who installed it! There is always a flip side of the coin.

Don't get me wrong, I am disappointed. And sometimes disappointment causes me to stomp and flail and say hateful things to anyone who happens to get in my way! But that really does little or no good and I usually feel worse after such a temper tantrum. So........ getting older and realizing these things has some benefits I suppose.

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go askew!" But here's to counting the blessings instead of the aggravations.