Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Friday, January 17, 2014

Wish Me Luck

Beginner’s Luck.
First time’s the charm.
Fortuitous, jammy, miraculous, providential, heaven smiles on you, fluky, as luck would have it, in luck, more by luck than judgment, someone’s lucky day, when your ship comes in.
It’s happened to me.
Twice.
Let me tell you about it . . .
I’ve always been interested in sports.
Playing them, not watching them.
An important side note.
Back to my story . . .
Annually, throughout my school years, all of us were bussed to another school to participate in ‘Track Meet’.
It was our only field trip and a wonderful, joyous escape from the normal, mundane, humdrum grind of daily learning.
At the track meet, one would be expected to participate in different events.
My specialties were running, long jump, and high jump. And I had been practicing.
Ad infinitum. Ad nauseam. (Emphasis on the ‘nauseam’.)
This was a long, long time ago . . . sigh.
At one meet, the hosting school introduced a new event. The softball throw.
Okay, it wasn’t complicated. You merely took the ball.
And threw it.
Easy peasy.
My friends encouraged me to enter.
I did.
I threw that ball clear to the other end of the mapped-out area. Set a record.
Of course, I was never able to approach that distance with my other two throws.
Or ever again.
First time lucky.
My second experience was during college, again at a track meet, this time with other people who had trained.
I had been practicing my sprint, long jump and high jump.
I’m nothing if not predictable.
At the meet, someone put a javelin in my hand.
With no other training or experience, I took that sucker and threw it.
And set a new college record.
My teacher, seeing me as some sort of prodigy, grabbed me and proceeded to train.
And I never again was able to throw that stupid stick anywhere near what I had that first time.
Beginner’s luck.
See?
P.S. I’m going out to buy my first, ever lottery ticket.
Wish me beginner’s luck.


19 comments:

  1. Loto Max? I bought one too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes! Good luck!

    And after the draw, never EVER buy one of those money-burning dough-disappearing no good tickets again!

    "that stupid stick" LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish you luck on that lottery ticket. I wish I had some of your luck through the years. I love sports but didn't excel much in them. I probably did best in basketball.
    You actually brought back a memory of field days; I must put that as a history moments.
    Blessings for the smile and chuckle today~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It makes me so happy when I can help you recall a precious memory of your own, LeAnn! :)

      Delete
  4. The only luck I have with the lottery is buying the ticket.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's something that can definitely be counted on! :)

      Delete
  5. Ohh, good luck. If I ever threw a javelin, I think others would need the luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heehee! There's nothing like a pointed stick to make people scatter!

      Delete
  6. Wow! Certainly good examples of beginner's luck. A lot of luck, apparently! So about that lottery ticket, how much did you win? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm wishing you so much luck. Then again, perhaps the trick with first time anything is not thinking about luck, just doing it. Like your throws, just get out there and buy that ticket. I'll wait for your winning announcement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've given me a whole new perspective, River! Over-thinking it. That's been my problem all along!

      Delete
  8. I am the same way! That sort of thing happens to me all the time. I think my problem is that I start to over-think or over-expect after that first attempt, and then it's all downhill from there. :) Any luck with the ticket?

    ReplyDelete

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