Clovers Bring Luck

When you think of the month of March, other than March Madness and St. Patrick's Day something that alsways comes to mind is are clovers that seem to pop up everywhere, similar to the plant itself. I thought I would share a couple facts that I have about them.

Four-Leaf Clovers are in fact very rare. Only 1 in every 10,000 clovers has four leaves. And though there has been record of clover with more than four leaves (the record is actually 21) it's so uncommon that there are no statistics regarding it.

Four-Leaf Clovers are not shamrocks. It's actually a really interesting fact that I learned semi-recently. Often times the word 'shamrock' and 'four-leaf clover' are used interchangeably but shamrocks are actually the ones with 3 leaves. So next time you get that Shamrock Shake, make sure you make it a triple. It's actually an old legend that St. Patrick used to use the shamrock as a symbol for the Holy Trinity.

Four-Leaf Clovers are genetic mutations. The word mutation has a negative connotation but it really just means an anomaly in the DNA strands, which most times aren't harmful just different. For example, certain foods have mutated into being more beneficial for humans. What we call watermelon today, was noting like it used to be with way less of the sweet, red part we all love. This is how four-leaf clovers came about. Clovers have 3 leaves and mutated ones have four. Mutations also pass down through generations, especially if offspring are created with another organism with this mutation, which means that when you do find a four-leaf clover there are usually other ones around it. [This also makes it super easy to get a patch at home. If you find one or more pick them with the roots and put them in a pot. Pick out the ones with three leaves and eventually, your pot will be full of four-leaf clovers only.]

Good ole' Abe Lincoln used to carry a four-leaf clover with him everywhere. He truly believed in the luck they possessed (I do too). However, Fate likes to laugh at humans and it is said that he was not carrying one the day he was assassinated. Guess that means I'm going to go get my hands on a four-leaf clover ASAP.

Children believed that clovers made you able to see fairy-type creatures. This is where the idea of leprechauns originated. Leprechauns are mythical creatures that are associated with St. Patrick's Day, and are known to hide a pot of gold "at the end of the rainbow." But just between you and me, I distinctly remember seeing a shimmery thing where the rainbow met the horizon a couple years back, but my uber driver mom refused to take me to go check it out.

And here are some St Patrick's Day Facts that aren't really clover-themed but still pretty interesting.

It's St. Paddy's Day. In the US, St. Patrick's Day is often called St. Patty's Day in a way of shortening the name, using the letter 't' that's in the name as a guide of sorts. However, many people who were raised in Ireland, are shocked when they see this, as over there it is shortened to St. Paddy's Day with 'd's instead. This is due to the fact that Patrick is Anglicized {translated to English} from the Gaelic name Padraig. Patty is often used as a shortened version of the name Patricia so confusion arises.

New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade has been happening since 1762. Every year on March 17th, (other than 2020 for obvious reasons) New York City throws a large parade that passes by the St. Patrick's Cathedral every year, even changing the route when the address of the Cathedral changed. This tradition has been happening since the late 1700s even before the Declaration of Independence was signed.