Saturday, July 9, 2011

Lucky Four Leaf Clover

When I was in elementary school, I went to camp one summer at the YMCA with a neighborhood girl whose sister was my sis' best friend. Their mom had just died and somehow she and I were coerced into attending drama camp together. I don't remember much about the acting portion of the camp but I do remember she found a patch of four-leaf clovers and wouldn't tell me where they were. I spent every lunch break outside scouring the hillside for four-leaf clovers to no avail.

To me, they're elusive. Like elves, leprechauns and fairies, I'm not sure they even exist. (Except for the tooth fairy. I know her pretty well.)

A few weeks ago, one of the little girls across the street, B, was bemoaning the fact that the other kids at school always come back from lunch with four-leaf clovers and she can never find any. She shared with me that she spends her lunch break looking and looking.

A kindred soul.

We agreed to walk over to the school playground this summer and together we would find some. Why not? I've been looking for them for over forty years now all alone. It would be good to have some company.

Just last week, my neighbor/girlfriend Ellie posted on Facebook that they have a patch of four-leaf clovers in their yard. I excitedly told B and she began bringing it up in conversation approximately every two minutes. So yesterday, she and I headed over to Ellie's and, alas, couldn't find them. The directions were clear: to the right of the weeping cherry tree. Maybe it's us? As my kids would say, epic fail.

When Ellie got home, she texted me: did you get some? When I responded, "no," she went outside, found one, took a pic and sent it to me. I headed back and Ellie pointed them out to me. And there they were: mixed right in with the three-leaf clovers, same plant, same branch, different clover.

Now I can't wait for B to get home from her grandmother's this weekend! Oh the joy.

This is my four-leaf clover. Can you see it?








Why don't you come over? I'll show you my four leaf clover.

2 comments:

Suzanne Marie DeWitt said...

I didn't know they grew in bunches, I always thought they were simply happy mutations!

Pranayama mama said...

Happy mutations! Sounds like a great band name.