“For a change, lady luck seemed to be smiling on me. Then again, maybe the fickle wench was just lulling me into a false sense of security while she reached for a rock.”
~Timothy Zahn

Red is a 6′ 4″, 280 pound, whiskey drinking, ponytailed, proud Irish descendent.  And the kind of person that, when you meet him, you like him instantly.

Red and I were putting a bed that he just bought from us into the back of his truck when he began talking about our sailing adventure.  Every conversation that we have these days turns towards our sailing trip.

Red told us a couple of his boating adventures while in the Gulf of Mexico that involved 12 foot seas and people strapping on life vests.  Everybody seems to have one or two of those stories for us.

He turns towards Roxanne extending out his arm, “I want you to take my lucky charm.”

He hands Roxanne a silver coin with a three leaf clover on it and continues in a serious tone, “I want it back when you guys return but for now I want you to mount it near the steering wheel and it will bring you the luck of the Irish.”

He continues, “You know that the Irish are some of the best seamen in the world and they are fantastic ship and boat builders.”

Before I could mention the Titanic, Red chuckles as he finishes off his thought, “Somebody always wants to mention the Titanic when I bring this up.  We only made one mistake when we built the Titanic….we let a damn Englishman drive, and the first thing he does is smash it into an iceberg.”

—

Well Red, your lucky coin has been mounted by the steering wheel and we all thank you for the incredibly nice gesture.  Roxanne was especially happy with it and mentioned something like, “We are going to need all the good luck we can get.”  I’m not sure what she meant by that but it made me a bit nervous.