polka dot suitcase

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I know what you’re thinking: You thought this week was going to be devoted to the human body, and what does a leprechaun have to do with that? Here’s my answer: Not much.

However, as I was thinking about leprechauns this morning, I was thinking about how now, more than ever, it would be cool if we could snag some of the leprechauns’ secret golden stashes. Everyone knows that it’s not easy to catch one of these little buggers, though. If you’re up for the challenge, though, some suggestions:

1. Locate the leprechaun by listening for his teeny little hammer pounding out a new pair of shoes…probably to give to Barbie so they’ll fall off her tiny feet when little girls are playing with them and then they’ll impale barefoot parents in the middle of the night to prevent said parents from chasing leprechauns. Yeah. They’re that forward thinking.

2. Build a trap. It can be fancy or simple, but the key is to bait it with gold, because they’re greedy. Don’t have any spare nuggets? You can paint little rocks yellow and they’ll fall for that, because they’re greedy and a little mentally challenged. Tiny brains and all that.

3. If you actually spot a leprechaun, stare at him. He won’t be able to escape. But if you break your gaze – poof, he vanishes, and you’re back in the poorhouse.

And with number three, that brings us back to this week’s human body theme. I’ve created a leprechaun (below) for you to stare at. Don’t look away! Stare at him right between his big old eyes. This is  a special leprechaun, though. He’ll disappear even as you’re staring at him, the amazing little man. But when he does disappear, keep staring at the place where he was. Ta da!  Instead of the funky-colored leprechaun, you’ll see an after-image in his appropriate colors of green clothing and red beard.

Oooh…ahh…how does it work? When you stared at that garish purple and blue little fella, the corresponding photoreceptors in your eyes got all tired. When the image disappeared, your eyes “saw” a negative version of the image, in opposite colors. So much fun!