find a penny. pick it up. all day long...

…you’ll have good luck. right?!?

i’ve actually repeated this process many times in my life. and to tell you the truth, i’ve been incredibly disappointed each and every time as i wait for my day’s luck to come. it never does. even though i wait and wait and wait.

my idea of luck is to have something extraordinary happen to me. something wonderful, unexpected. for instance, i would be incredibly satisfied if at some point during the day that i found a penny, i stumbled into a huge ice cream truck overflowing with soft, smooth, and slightly sinfully sweet cream. and while i slurped up every spoonful of silky sensuousness, a comedian would whisper side splitting epigrams in my left ear. that would be a lucky day.

unfortunately, it seems to me that the days i pick up pennies are no different than any other day.

so, at first, i came to the unsupported conclusion that i was not picking up the right kind of pennies. i.e., they were made in an unlucky year, they were tails up, or they had tarnished to the point that the lucky juices could not penetrate from within the heart of the penny and into my bloodstream.

now and recently, i have convinced myself that luck is relative…and surprisingly but quite rationally, not determined by a chance penny sighting. i no longer rely on pennies for luck. in fact, i no longer rely on luck at all. instead i am taking a rational approach to life. boring, but it has worked for the last 20 hours.

i do realize and respect, however, that some people are still very excited when they find a penny…especially if it’s heads up. for these people, i hope that their fantasies do not include dairy dessert truck alliterations, or witty comedians…because, rationally, lets face it…this combo does not exist. i'd bet one hundred and three pennies on this, for that is how many failed luck attempts i have had in the last year.

oh, and i left the last penny i found on a brick pillar next to reservoir road (see far right photo). 2002 was a good year... so if you find it, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck. if you're into that kind of thing.