Four-Leaf Clovers, fact or fiction? The finder of one of these rare flowers is said to have found good luck and fortune.
Four-Leaf Clovers, fact or fiction? The finder of one of these rare flowers is said to have found good luck and fortune. Have you ever found a four-leaf clover? Have you ever wondered if they were real or just a myth? Let me tell you that these clovers exist, although they are very rare to find among the morass of their three-leafed brothers and sisters.
Finding one for the first time fills you with a sense of accomplishment and hope; if you can find a rare four-leaf clover, perhaps, you can find some of the more important things in life. Finding subsequent ones only serves to reinforce that belief and hope.
Four-Leaf Clover History
Here are some of the places where I’ve found four-leaf clovers around the world, in reverse chronological order. When you’re finished reading my search highlights, check out my final thoughts on four-leaf clovers.
August 29, 1997: Stanford University
I don’t know where I found it, but I did write the following in my journal that day:
Found a four leaf clover today; just looked down and said to myself,
“Sometimes, you just find them,” and there is was. Didn’t suck.
If you are a fan of Frank Miller, you’ll notice the last quote, “Didn’t suck,” is from his The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel, one of the finest works ever created in the comic industry.
March 16, 1997: Frost Amphitheater, Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University
There must be a mutant strain of four-leaf clovers at Frost, because I literally found a cache of six of them in a ten minute timeframe with Thomas Ritter. Curiously enough, it was St. Patrick’s Day that day!
August 29, 1995: Château de Fontainbleau, France
Taking a break from wandering around the palatial grounds, I stopped by a clover patch and started searching. Low and behold, I found on, thousands of miles away from my home!
June 12, 1995: Faculty Ghetto, Stanford University
I found two four-leaf clovers at Terry Winograd’s house in the faculty ghetto at Stanford and gave them to a classmate of mine, Michelle Gee, who was studying hard for finals and deciding her summer plans at the time.
May 30, 1995: Xanadu, Stanford University
I had just finished a interview for a class I was taking at the end of my sophomore year at Stanford. I was walking out the interviewer when I just looked down and immediately saw one amongst a sea of its three-leafed relatives!
198?: Standley Middle School, San Diego, California
Walking back from elementary school on day, I found one growing in the large expanse of green lawn at William H. Standley Middle School. Alas, I broke one of the leaves when I tried to extract the rare clover from the ground. As such, the four-leaf clover became a common three-leaf clover.
Final Thoughts
When all is said and done, I’ve found at least 12 four-leaf clovers throughout the years. As you can see, it’s been a few years since I last found one, but I haven’t stopped searching. If you haven’t ever stopped at a clover patch and wondered if four-leaf clovers exist, I encourage you to take a few minutes and start looking.
Enjoy this moment of investigation and discovery, for while you may or may not find one, realize that sometimes, like many things in our lives, it’s just the quest which makes all the difference.
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