The Fiver of '09

It is known by some (but not most) that I am the Master Queen of finding four leaf clovers. This lucky talent has its benefits and drawbacks. While it is considered quite lucky and most people are awed by my skill, I view it as a social status of sorts that I must live up to. And I do fear with the beginning of each new Spring as the crocuses emerge and the dollar store flip flops are dusted off and inventoried, that soon I will be expected to live up to my potential. And with that self imposed expectation the self doubt and trepidation that this new season will be fruitless I am launched into a frenzy of searching... and hoping.

I do feel quite lucky, and I do feel that these little four leaf treasures hold a little magic. I feel guilt as I pluck them out of the ground, knowing their magic will soon fade, and their dried up carcasses will be discarded and forgotten. I have a few memories. One came to me by accident, that is to say, I really wasn't looking for it. About twelve years ago as I enjoyed a sunny picnic lunch with a boyfriend across the way from our small town's historic church. I ended up keeping it and putting it in a little frame, although the moment it was found didn't hold any special meaning. The boyfriend and I eventually broke up, and not even an amicable breakup but a sort of abrupt and painful chore, like peeling off a bandaid. Still, I have carried the thing with me all this time, and it has traveled with me as my life journey has taken me to many places and homes. It currently lives on top of the china cabinet in our dining room, looking down at us as we go about our business of living. Seasons pass and still it is there. Like a rock. Like a leaf.

There have been many others, and some I do remember. But, oh what a tragedy that so many of these mementos of luck and magic have faded with not even a memory to hold them in! I decided this would be a venue as good as any other to document this season's findings, to prepare a little resting place where as time goes by a little bit of their lucky essence is captured and held. I will begin this documentation with the Fiver of '09.

Spring came suddenly, while a moment ago we were still hunkered down in cozy socks and oven cooked casseroles to ward off the chills of a long and uneventful Winter. It had been cold and dry so long the bit of rain that came was not much to talk about, just a miserable nuisance as we waited for clear skies and dreamed of long days filled with iced teas and mosquito bites, lazily watching the fireflies as we skip the after dinner bath to enjoy a peaceful moment outdoors scratching absently at the afternoon's red hot trophies wherever we have forgotten to cover up. But, lo! What a surprise to see as the next few days unfolded and green began to multiply and we broke into the sun as if freshly born, cheeks pinking in the sun and feeling reassured that time will continue and this thing called Spring is indeed, happening.

It was on one of these first mornings that I casually decided to have a look, thinking it was still early in the season and at the very least I could stretch my legs and do some warmup laps around the front yard. We were packing the girls up for a day at the Zoo, and if I do not look back at the calendar now I am afraid the date would slip away in the midst of several others. It was March 13, 2009. And it was a Friday. But luck is where you find it, and on that day it was found just a few feet from the driveway. As I scanned and petted the lush little patch of growth I noticed what my eyes have been trained to see after so many seasons of searching. An irregularity in the number of leaves, the angle of one leaf to another cocked ever so slightly toward on another just a few degrees less than the norm, and I swiped gently to brush apart any neighboring growth that in proximity might create such an illusion.

Here it was! The first pick of the season, but can this be? Not four, but five? At first I did not believe it, and carefully moved away the surrounding foliage to have a closer look. And there it was. A perfect four leaf clover, it's leaves pointing to the four corners in perfect balance as they should, and a tiny little leaf sprouting out of the middle like a stamen. A little leaf flower. Into the house it was took, to be quickly pressed and prepared for an eternity of shameless display. And we were on our way, as if nothing had happened. A boastful moment of pride and then the thing was easily forgotten as we went about the day. But the little bit of magic was there, as a peace offering, lingering as the anticipation of warmer weather grew with each moment and the cold Winter faded into a distant memory. That day, the Fiver of '09 ushered in the Spring. Call it luck if you like, but with each new find I am reminded of my motto (as it applies to such things) that you cannot find what you do not search for.