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Books About Life on a Farm Written Especially for People Who Like to Read! "Highly recommended reading." The Midwest Book Review Reviews & Readers' Comments |
LeAnn R. Ralph Rural Route 2 Author E6689 970th Ave. Colfax, WI 54730 (715) 308-6336 |
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by LeAnn R. Ralph Every summer when I was a kid growing up on our dairy farm in Wisconsin, my mother ordered the Weekly Reader for me. We received the little magazine in our grade school classroom, too, but I especially enjoyed the summer edition because it represented the only mail that arrived just for ME. Each week, I happily anticipated the next Weekly Reader, and one afternoon when I went to get the mail, sure enough, there it was inside the mailbox, along with a few letters and the latest Hoard's Dairyman. I never could wait until I got back to the house to see what was in the Weekly Reader, and as I walked up the driveway, I began flipping through the pages. Inside, I discovered an article about finding four-leaf clovers. Imagine that. Something in the Weekly Reader that a farm girl could relate to! After all, we had clover growing in our lawn, and there was some clover in the hayfield, too. As soon as I got back to the house, I gave the rest of the mail to my mother, and then I sat down to read the article. "What's so interesting?" Mom asked. "Four-leaf clovers," I replied. "Oh," she said, "those are supposed to bring good luck." I had already known that four-leaf clovers were considered lucky, and I had always thought it would be tremendous fun to find one. But how can you find something when you don't know where to look? That is, I didn't know where to look -- until now. "Mom!" I exclaimed. "It says four-leaf clovers come from white clover!" "White clover?" my mother replied. "I didn't know that. Don't we have a lot of white clover growing by the--" "MACHINE SHED!" "Well, yes," my mother said, "but I was going to say --" "THE CLOTHESLINE!" "Actually," Mom continued. "THE LILACS!" My mother shot a stern glance in my direction. "I was going to say by the maple tree." The truth of the matter was that we had white clover growing all over the lawn. "Have you ever found a four-leaf clover?" I asked. She shook her head. "I understand they're quite rare." "That's what it says here." My mother gazed out the window. "Hmmm. . .looks like it's almost time to mow the lawn again, so if you want to try to find a four-leaf clover --" "I'd better look now." Mom nodded. "But don't be disappointed if you don't find one right away. Maybe if you work at it, you'll have one by the end of the summer." "The article says that, too. Keep at it, and don't give up." "Happy hunting," my mother said with a smile. A few minutes later, I stood on the porch, wondering where I should begin my search. The clothesline seemed like a good place to start. It was the closest, at any rate. While I laid on my stomach, staring at the bewildering array of clover leaves, it suddenly occurred to me that this was probably going to be a hopeless task. There were so many of them. Some bigger, some smaller, but each with three little leaves. . . Wait a minute. What about the one right by my elbow?. . .No couldn't be. But as I bent closer, I saw that, yes, indeed, there were FOUR LEAVES. I stared at the four-leaf clover, scarcely able to believe my eyes -- because -- it wasn't supposed to be this easy. But then the reality hit me. I had found a four-leaf clover! A few seconds later, I raced into the house, letting the screen door slam behind me. "Don't tell me you gave up already," my mother said. "No, Mom. Look!" "Well," she said, "I guess this IS your lucky day, isn't it." As it turned out, my mother was more right than she knew. Since it had only taken a few minutes to find the first four-leaf clover, I went right back outside, expecting to find another one. But I didn't find any more that day, or the next, or the next. In fact, I didn't find another four-leaf clover until about 30 years later. That's right -- 30 years. Perhaps I should have enjoyed my "two minute adventure" more while I had the opportunity. Then again, who knew lucky days would end up being THAT far apart? ******************************** (copyright 2004: LeAnn R. Ralph) LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the farm books: "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm) (trade paperback; 2003), "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback; 2004), "Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Interviewing Family Members and Writing Oral Histories" (e-book; 2004). http://ruralroute2.com Contact Information: LeAnn R. Ralph E6689 970th Ave. Colfax, WI 54730 (715) 308-6336 mailto:bigpines@ruralroute2.com http://ruralroute2.com |
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