Wow! I have been away for a few months it seems. No real reason. Not detecting much. Maybe 5 or 6 hunts since Labor Day.
The story. I went to the Post Office this morning dressed for winter, and was shocked that it was 60 degrees out! As I waited in the loooooooooong line I decided I needed one more hunt in 2011. I arrived at the site and began my pre detecting ritual. I immediately noticed only one other person in the park. A man, who was pacing back and forth in the parking lot from one side to the other in a pattern. Looked like a detecting grid. I moved out to a field and began a long meandering path in no pattern at all. I kept an eye on "the guy" and decided he was definitely looking for something. I figured he would come over at some point and he did. He snuck up on me in fact and scared the crap out of me. I stood, said hello, and he asked me what I was doing. I said just poking around and he asked if I had found any change. I said a little. He became rather agitated and I realized he was a little slow. The very short version of what he told me was that he came to the park every day and looked for money on the ground. He showed me his notebook where he logged his finds. (HA! Just like us!) The way he talked about it this activity was his "raison d'etre" and he made it very clear that I was interfering. He also wanted my finds and for me to leave. I was amused. I told him I had found about five bucks worth of coins and that I also tracked coins so he couldn't have them, but that I'd give him a five dollar bill. No good, he was only interested in change. I told him to follow me to my car where I had my finds. He had been keeping an eye on me but didn't question how they had been magically transported there. I hadn't been anywhere near my car. I gave him the money in my cup holder. Maybe 3 bucks. He dumped it on the ground. Sorted it. Logged it in his book and asked me when I was going to leave. I replied right now, and left. I just figured out how much I have taken from that park over the past 6 years. It comes to almost $800 in clad, four silver rings, no gold, one silver coin. That would probably break the guys heart. I have never seen him before in my life either and I have spent more than 100 hours detecting there.
The loot was OK considering it's near the end of December. 3 wheats. A few Canadian coins. A chain with a bone or tooth pendant. Some buttons. A Sac dollar. Clad. That Washington quarter sitting all by itself is my last find in 2011, I think.
That's enough, I reckon. Happy Christmas to everybody!
Chris
Was there a gift exchange this year?
The story. I went to the Post Office this morning dressed for winter, and was shocked that it was 60 degrees out! As I waited in the loooooooooong line I decided I needed one more hunt in 2011. I arrived at the site and began my pre detecting ritual. I immediately noticed only one other person in the park. A man, who was pacing back and forth in the parking lot from one side to the other in a pattern. Looked like a detecting grid. I moved out to a field and began a long meandering path in no pattern at all. I kept an eye on "the guy" and decided he was definitely looking for something. I figured he would come over at some point and he did. He snuck up on me in fact and scared the crap out of me. I stood, said hello, and he asked me what I was doing. I said just poking around and he asked if I had found any change. I said a little. He became rather agitated and I realized he was a little slow. The very short version of what he told me was that he came to the park every day and looked for money on the ground. He showed me his notebook where he logged his finds. (HA! Just like us!) The way he talked about it this activity was his "raison d'etre" and he made it very clear that I was interfering. He also wanted my finds and for me to leave. I was amused. I told him I had found about five bucks worth of coins and that I also tracked coins so he couldn't have them, but that I'd give him a five dollar bill. No good, he was only interested in change. I told him to follow me to my car where I had my finds. He had been keeping an eye on me but didn't question how they had been magically transported there. I hadn't been anywhere near my car. I gave him the money in my cup holder. Maybe 3 bucks. He dumped it on the ground. Sorted it. Logged it in his book and asked me when I was going to leave. I replied right now, and left. I just figured out how much I have taken from that park over the past 6 years. It comes to almost $800 in clad, four silver rings, no gold, one silver coin. That would probably break the guys heart. I have never seen him before in my life either and I have spent more than 100 hours detecting there.
The loot was OK considering it's near the end of December. 3 wheats. A few Canadian coins. A chain with a bone or tooth pendant. Some buttons. A Sac dollar. Clad. That Washington quarter sitting all by itself is my last find in 2011, I think.
That's enough, I reckon. Happy Christmas to everybody!
Chris
Was there a gift exchange this year?
