I was eating breakfast with one hand, petting my cat, Cow, with the other, and reading the back of the cereal box, when --"OUCH!" I screamed. "Why'd you pinch me?"

"I know," said Tex. "Just promise to give it back after school."

"It's true," said my little sister, Indi.

I was mostly mad about getting pinched, but also a tiny bit glad about being reminded that it was Saint Patrick's Day.

"Well," Tex said, taking the old green baseball cap off his head, "you could borrow my lucky hat."

My brother is so lucky. Good stuff is always happening to him. Do you believe in luck? And if so, how can I get more of it?

Dear Arizona,

I panicked. "What am I going to do? I don't have time to change. I'll get pinched all day long!"

"You're not wearing green," said my little brother, Tex. "Everyone knows you get pinched if you don't wear green on Saint Patrick's Day!"

Dear Looking,

"But it's your favorite!" I said.

"No problem," I said, glancing in the mirror on my way out the door. "I look like a goofball in this thing!"

-- Looking for luck in Louisiana

Now, before I go on, you should know that I'm not an overly superstitious person. I don't believe that thirteen is an unlucky number or that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. I definitely don't freak out if a black cat crosses my path. And when it comes to things like lucky four-leaf clovers and lucky pennies, I just never believed in them.

Anyway, I was racing to catch the school bus, and I saw a dollar on the sidewalk! I looked around to see if anyone was looking for it, but people just kept stepping on the poor thing, so I decided to rescue it. I'd found pennies and nickels before, but never a dollar! Then, I didn't miss the bus, because the bus was even later than me¡ªwhich never happens!

"Hum." I grabbed my backpack. "Thanks, I think."

"A lucky goofball!" said Tex.

My luck didn't stop there. Carlos and Jackson were sitting behind me, quizzing each other on spelling words. I turned around and said, "You guys know that test isn't till tomorrow, right?"

"It got switched to this morning," said Jackson. "Remember? There's some assembly tomorrow."

"Wow, Arizona!" said my friend Mareya. "I can't believe how amazingly you just did! You are so getting a major part in this play!"

"But you promised to give it back!" said Tex.

"This is the luckiest hat in the world," I said. "I'm never taking it off!"

"I know, but…" I pretended to try to pull the hat off my head. "I think it's stuck."

"It is not!" said Tex.

The next day turned out to be super lucky. My audition couldn't have gone better.

"Please¡ªoh¡ªplease let me borrow your lucky hat for one more day!" I begged. "Tomorrow I'm auditioning for the school play, and I need every bit of help I can get."

"OK," said Tex. "One more day. But you'd better be really nice to me."

"That's right¡ªI totally forgot!" I said. "I'm so lucky that I sat in front of you. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have found out till it was too late!" I got out my spelling words, studied all the way to school. And ended up acing the test!

"I will," I agreed. "In fact¡ªhere you can have my lucky dollar!"

Tex let out a whoop, then started dancing around and waving his gift in the air.

The minute I got home, I gave Tex a gigantic hug.

"This one," I said, reaching into my backpack, where I thought I'd put Tex's hat since I couldn't wear it for the audition. But it wasn't there! "Oh, No!" I cried. "It's gone! What am I going to tell Tex?"

"So it wasn't the hat," said Mareya. "This is just a wild guess, but maybe it was all those hours you spent practicing over the past month."

"What lucky hat?" asked Mareya.

"Thanks! You did really great, too!" I said. "But honestly, the only reason I did OK is because I had my lucky hat."

Mareya helped me look for it. Luckily, we found Tex's hat in my locker. Also luckily, I discovered that I could be lucky with or without a goofy-looking cap in my possession.

"Hmm," I said. "It's possible."

So, dear Looking, I guess you could say that luck is a combination of being prepared, believing in yourself… and maybe just a tiny bit of magic! In other words, luck may come your way, but you have to be ready for it when it does!

Ciao for now

Arizona