As a kid I had a “talent” for finding four leaf clovers. Stretching before a run recently I looked down and noticed one staring me in the face. And reconnected with my childhood. In fact, over the past weekend I found 23!
According to my favorite encyclopedia, Wikipedia, 1 in 10,000 clovers has four leaves. Legend has it that three leaves represent faith, hope, and love. The fourth: luck!
We are surrounded every day with messages to “look up,” “look ahead,” “look back,” but not so many to “look down.” Except “mind the gap!” A quick Google search for “look up” results in 560m hits while “look down” only 231m hits. So, while you are looking up for inspiration or ahead for direction or back for perspective, remember to look down. It is amazing what’s at your feet!
I remember finding many in our backyard as a kid in Savannah, but never held on to them. Then in 1997, while sitting in a grassy spot on the National Mall, studying for my comps at Catholic University, I found a four-leaf clover. I pressed it between pages of my copy of AACR2 and now have it at my desk here at A2. Yes, don’t forget to look down once in a while. You never know what you might find.
Interesting i never knew that 1 in 10,000 clovers has four leaves, i learned something new tonight, thanks.
I found four this morning! It doesn’t compare with 23, but it made my day!
I am curious as to how long it took to find 23 of them?
For the last couple of years, I’ve spent hours and hours on my hands and knees obsessively pulling out all the clover in my front lawn. (I think my neighbors thought I was a little nuts.) This year I finally gave up and let the clover take over. But in all that time pulling clover, I never came across a four leaf. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough.
23! It is definitely a talent!. My daughter, Liz, has this talent. I have many “preserved” clovers with cute notes from Liz throughout the years as she grew up. She’s 26 now and a mom, and there is a four leaf clover on my fridge as we speak. This is also a comment on preservation. Scotch tape and notebook paper don’t work as well as the materials used in the above pics. I’m always looking for the four leaf clovers and I haven’t found one yet! I guess I just don’t have that talent. But to your REAL point, even though I now need to adjust my glasses to see clearly (looking down), it’s usually worth the effort.
Love this post and its underlying message about looking at things from different perspectives! I’m looking forward to sharing it with my 11-year-old son who also has a knack for finding four-leaf clovers.
Still looking…..counted 8364 so far……..almost at 10, 000 so I should find it soon ;0)