First sighting of penny (actually 2 p. coin): Sunday 1 August 2004

I have come back to Cambridge late from a mad family time in London to find the lucky penny my friend Daniel Landau promised to send me from Bristol. I see from the envelope that it has already travelled quite far and I feel very lucky to be the present recipient.

First full day with penny: Monday 2 August 2004

With or without this penny I feel I have an enormous amount of luck that I could almost get superstitious about, but I know I can’t live as if I am waiting for things to balance out. My late great aunt and uncle, lucky enough to spend more than sixty happy years together (and then being lucky enough to die within days of each other), were famous for saying: “Enjoy your life – whether you like it or not!” It’s not luck we need but an awareness of what we have to do to make the best use of what we have.

We talk about family and friends and what we are going to do with them (on Friday, the weekend, the rest of our lives). We talk about cleaning the fridge, or more depressingly, fixing the shower, or with a rush of exhilaration, moving house. (It would save on a wedding venue…) We talk about work and all we have to do and all that we want to do, and the imaginary acknowledgements we will write for each other, and the unborn babies we need to find presents (presence) for, and what to do about the ivy growing around our windows like Sleeping Beauty’s ivory tower. Today, the lucky penny is held in the zipped pocket of my bag, with the other coins, symbols of what helps us to live like this, this wonderful life. (To bring the fairy-tale down to brass tacks.)

Second full day with penny: Tuesday 3 August 2004

I have just been telling my beloved David that this lucky penny may inspire me to try to lead a more exciting life on weekdays, as I don’t want this journal to be boring. He says that there is a discussion to be had about a boring day being lucky, I suppose along the lines of the curse: “May you live in interesting times!”

A lucky thing happened at the gallery where I work today, although not involving me, it could be linked to a lucky penny on the premises. A man and his uncle, living in different areas of London, both decided independently from each other to bring their respective families to Cambridge to see the gallery today, and found themselves (and each other) outside the front door at the same time. They were all a bit freaked out. I get the impression that none of us wants to think about coincidences like this too much.

Lucky stuff that happened to me today? I suppose it depends what spin you put on it… had an argument, but managed to retreat upstairs in time for us both to recover and look forward to seeing each other again (oh, the luck/luxury of being able to have enough (head-) space…)

Third full day with penny: Wednesday 4 August 2004

What can I say? I don’t know what you would count as lucky… I count my lucky stars (I nearly wrote ‘starts’ there!) today and everyday for my own real life love story, my family, my friends – every phone call has made me happy today which is not something we can say everyday – I even had my first ‘type talk’ phone-call at my University job.

Fourth full day with penny: Thursday 5 August 2004

Today I showed my colleague the Lucky Penny website to explain what I am doing and she asked: “Do you believe in luck?” I wasn’t sure what to say. The rational part of me would like to believe that things happen for reasons that we can explain, but I think we try to cover all bases in the spirit of openmindedness, and make wishes, if not prayers. Perhaps a lot of this is down (or up) to positive thinking.
Tonight, while David went inside to bring us more food, I leaned back and looked up at the beautiful turning sky over our garden: “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight…”. Those old childhood incantations that stay with us, like charms, or keep turning up at unexpected moments, like “bad” or “lucky” pennies. I know that we are taught to be wary about revealing our wishes, but I wished that things would feel more settled soon. We have been thinking about a lot of change lately – trying to arrange our wedding, working out what to do about our house, wondering about career prospects, etc. – but I suppose that it’s lucky we are able to think about change before having to just get on with it.

Fifth full day with penny: Friday 6 August 2004

Today David’s oldest friends and their children who are here from abroad came to Cambridge. We went punting on the river, the boys (big and small) taking turns to command the boat, making us laugh with each idiosyncratic technique. Later, we were lucky enough (or not unlucky) to have a relatively easy journey to London and we got to our friends’ house in time for the Friday night reunion with various friends from abroad. Much catching-up ensued (punctuated by political discussion), while the children (almost outnumbering us now) bounced on the giant trampoline into the middle of the starry night.

Sixth full day with penny: Saturday 7 August 2004

For once the adults woke up before the youngsters and we made our way to Regent’s Park for the ‘innocent’ festival. Luckily we found a patch in the shade and everyone did more eating and drinking and drawing and playing football, while a far-off DJ played world music and the shadows drew longer and longer. Eventually we crammed into the cars again back to our other friends’ house where we had a barbecue/barmitzvah celebration in the garden until the babies put themselves to sleep.

Seventh full day with penny: Sunday 8 August 2004

We all met at the London Eye and waited in a queue for an hour under the hot hot sun (despite having booked). The only lucky thing I can say about this is that managing to get all 19 of us into the same capsule seemed like a bonding exercise serving to unite us further as a ‘tribe’ in amongst the crowds. I think we all could do with that feeling part of something – that we won’t be left behind or out, that food and shelter and sun cream will always be shared. I felt lucky to be up there – seeing the city I grew up in from an angle that seems to help it make sense. It is funny how disorientated we can feel at home.

I separated from the group and went to my parents’ house, feeling lucky that for once there was noone else at home. I feel very lucky to have grown up in a warm and welcoming house full of brothers and significant others, but sometimes I feel luckier to have my parents’ full attention to be able to have a conversation! I feel luckiest of all that David comes to pick me up and we can drive off into the sunset together!

This is turning into rather a long diary entry, but it was rather an eventful day and I wish everyone could be lucky enough to have a day that would make them as happy as this one made me.

We went on to see our friends who are expecting their first baby any day now. We nearly put out five chairs and I joked: “She’s not here yet!” but it does feel as if she is really here with us, just curled up in her mother’s lap, and not yet in the open air.
: “Why do kangaroo mothers hate it when it rains?”
: “Because the kids have to play inside…”
We curved round North London back to the gathering of the tribes, just in time for pizza. We all crowded into a bedroom upstairs to watch the video of the hosts’ wedding nine years ago. The children wanted to know why they weren’t at the party - a difficult question! The grown-ups smiled at themselves on the tv smiling, dancing, giving speeches, having fun. Older and wiser, with more grey hairs and gravitas, they told the little girls to sit down here, don’t block the view, yes that is Mommy, yes he is smoking, yes I still have that shirt… I look forward to our wedding and to all the meetings of our friends and family, even if there will be less wildness on our parts, and a constantly changing guest list. There is something to be said for continuity, and making good times, and knowing when to leave, and being lucky in love. There is not a lot to be said in the face of goodbyes, apart from “See you soon” and the clasping of hands and noisy kisses and tears in the eyes. I don’t know about luck, I suspect it is all about love.
We get into cars and drive off into the night, and soon find ourselves in Cambridge where we supposedly make our lives, and new friends, and work, and our own luck. We make ourselves ready for bed, and the new day.

Perhaps we need projects like this to remind us of what we feel lucky for, but it has also reminded me of how lucky I feel when my days are so full that I don’t keep a diary. We do live in interesting times – may we enjoy it whether we like it or not!

Epilogue:

Our friend has asked that I tell you that their daughter was born today, Wednesday 11 August 2004 (luckily). She is reported to be beautiful and as yet unnamed, as we all once were.

Jessa Leff

Thursday July 29th 2004

Opened the envelope from Michael Leigh. I’d forgotten that he was sending me the Lucky Penny. It’s our wedding anniversary today. Jill and I have been married for 15 years. So it’s an auspicious occasion to start this lucky diary.

I slipped the Lucky Penny into my pocket at 10.25.

Plans for today. Continue writing the children’s story I’m currently working on. Update my blog. Ring Gaby, my poetry publisher, to see where we are regarding proposed children’s poetry books planned for 2006. Lunch in garden as iIt’s a lovely hot summer’s day. Go to Battle, our nearest town, with Jill, to take her glasses into opticians to be mended, take library books back. Buy food. Possibly mow lawn if there’s time. Go to the cinema to celebrate. Will I be lucky. Let’s wait and see.

Well the first thing that happened was our cleaner left. She’s got herself a proper job. So bad luck for us, good luck for her. Maybe we’ll find an even better cleaner. Which will be good luck. Maybe we’ll find time to do our own cleaning. Time?

Not much else in the lucky stakes. I won at Scrabble this evening but I prefer to put that down to skill rather than luck.

Friday 30th July.

This morning I wrote more of my children’s book. Another 1000 words. That’s not very much, but the trick is to write that amount every day. It soon mounts up. In a month that’s 30,000 words. The length of a short children’s novel. In two months a reasonably sized adult’s novel. No luck – good or bad.

This afternoon I visited Battle, took Jill’s glasses in to be fixed – found parking space almost outside opticians – awarded myself one lucky point – I visited library – didn’t buy parking ticket – luckily I wasn’t spotted by traffic warden – went to supermarket to buy organic free-range chicken. They didn’t have one. Don’t think that’s a lucky issue as it’s a very small store and they rarely have anything as wild, crazy or extravagant as a free-range chicken. It would have been lucky if they had had something.

Sorted office some more ready for recording equipment. Have moved desk to create space. Moved piles of papers and stuff awaiting attention into neat piles. Didn’t find any lottery tickets that I had forgotten all about and that are worth heaps of money.

Saturday 31st July

Paper delivered. This was our first paper delivery. He managed to find our house, which is way out in the countryside. Lucky, maybe.

We went to Brighton where we are meeting my son and his girlfriend. Paul is a computer whiz kid and is going to help me set up my digital recording studio. In the afternoon we went hunting for a rug with Joe and Steff. Joe’s Jill’s son, my step-son. Steph knew of a carpet shop very close to where she worked. In it we found exactly the rug we were looking for. I think that counts as lucky. I phoned Paul, who had come down from London to do some shopping with Anne. They were in the area of Brighton we were heading to – the North Laine. We were having a drink in the Curve Bar and they walked past. Kind of lucky. Maybe.

Sunday 1st August

Work on recording set up. Things went right. Things went wrong. Things went right again. It took all day. Not a lot of luck involved – although Jill burnt the carrots. Bad luck Jill? Took Paul and Anne to station.

Monday 2nd August

Did some writing. Not a lot. Went to see Sheila, our holistic healer. She said I no longer have intolerance to wine, sugar and chocolate. We’re off to The Fat Duck in a couple of days – so that might be deemed as lucky.

On way home visited Fiona and Geoff where not much luck took place. Then a brisk twenty minutes along sea wall at Camber.

Tuesday 3rd August

Jill’s gone to see an old friend in Dorset. I spent the day writing. Got quite a lot done. Don’t think there was any luck involved though. I also did all the washing. A guy came round offering to cut hedge. He was a bone fide hedge cutter and showed me his card. It does need cutting. Lucky I was in then? Not sure.

Wednesday 4th August

Went to Fat Duck. Recently voted the second best restaurant in the world.

The food was very good and well worth the second mortgage we had to take out to afford it. On the way Jill had to correct some writing over the mobile phone with her secretary. Jill was driving and I was acting as an in-between person. Holding up the fax to Jill, saying – Does this say a monkey ate a pomegranate? Jill swerving too and fro. Very unsatisfactory. Then we hit upon the notion of me driving – thus allowing Jill to talk to her secretary at leisure.

Much better. Not sure if any luck was involved, though.

In the evening I looked at my blogs on a friend’s old Mac – only to discover they were all over the place. They just didn’t fit the screen. Lucky I saw them there or they would still be looking odd on the screens of people with old Macs.

Summing Up.

Having the Lucky Penny did get me thinking about luck and what it is. I have to say I didn’t feel I experienced any particularly good or bad luck in the week I had the penny. Nor could I be sure that the luck I did experience was in any way related to the penny. Which was really a tuppence, by the way.

Yesterday (Thursday) I was going to hand it on to Jill, who is having it next. But – unlucky! I lost it. I hunted absolutely everywhere. Luckily it turned up this morning in my pocket with some loose change.

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