Detecting Diary: Weekend 1, April 2017

Detecting Diary–Weekend 1, April 2017:

After being cooped up all winter, in a miserable state of lackofdetectinitis, I woke up one morning about a month ago and something seemed odd. I looked out the window and thought–there is definitely something different about today. My Mini Schnauzer “Abby” noticed it too. Instead of her normal stance of staring hard at the door, waiting for it to magically open for her, she was pacing in front of it. I quickly threw on a jacket and performed my task as the magic door opener, and she literally sprinted out into the yard.

I wasn’t too far behind her, and it hit me immediately. The air was different, the sun seemed brighter–the birds were singing–Spring was finally here. The birds knew it, Abby knew it, and I knew it as I watched her celebrate with a full five minutes of “crazy puppy” running around in circles in the yard. I laughed at her playfulness, and wished I could celebrate this beautiful moment, living in the moment, in the way that only dogs do so well.

It was such a good feeling to know that warmer weather was going to stick around.  I thought, sure, this is New England, and it could snow tomorrow, but that wouldn’t even upset a New Englander, because there is that different feeling in the air, and folks would know that even if Mother Nature dumped a foot of snow overnight, it would surely be melted by noon.

There was also a mini-celebration going on inside of me now that detecting season had finally arrived. There would be less worrying and wondering what kind of weather I would wake up to. I would no longer be stuck binge watching episodes of mindless TV shows, while laying on the couch, wallowing in winter sorrow with my seasonal best friend “blanket”. And even if I can’t get out detecting on such nice days, at least there will be a nice days to lift my spirits.

It was a great example of the days to come. And it warmed up just in time, because one of my clubs, the Yankee Territory Coinshooters had a “fun hunt”, as they call it, organized for the weekend through a member, Roger, who secured an old farm for the club to detect–thank you Roger!

As with any hunt, you never know if it’s going to be a great spot or not, but you could tell that everyone was psyched to hunt regardless of the sites potential. It was a good sized farm dating to I believe the 1600’s, with a lot of field area to swing in. I thought it would surely give up some large cents, reales or coppers, and I envisioned buttons, lots of buttons.

Unfortunately, the coppers and reales must have, at one point been absorbed by the soil, because unless someone corrects me, I don’t think any were found. Oh well, you never know what you’re going to get… But it was still an opportunity to hunt, and for that, I think we were all grateful.

It was difficult to walk and hunt the areas where the hard clay like soil was turned over, and a lot of folks opted for the flat or grassy areas in frustration, but I was determined. I spent over an hour tripping over myself and the ground hunting that freshly turned area. I found some type of ornate metal piece, maybe part of a woman’s buckle, and I thought there has to be more here.

I patiently waded through the maze of choppy dirt, gridding as best I could (it was hard to keep a straight line), and was rewarded with a screw shaped object with a design on it, and then a very fragile button.  As I was coming to the end of my last grid, I got a nice clear mid tone, and out popped an Indian Head penny. Indian Heads are my favorite coin, so I thought it was well worth the effort I put into that area, and even though it wasn’t in great condition, I felt satisfied.

I caught up with another member Paul, who showed me this cool skeleton key he had found. I thought it was really neat, especially because of its size, I had never found one that large. I also had a look at Rich W’s finds, which were some nice buttons and buckles, and I heard from Roger that someone else had also found an Indian head.

We had to car pool due to limited parking and my ride was leaving, so I didn’t get to see what else was found, but my best find of that hunt was made on the walk back to the car. I heard beeping, I looked around–nothing, then I heard it again. I pulled out my pinpointer to see if it was on, but nope. I heard the noise again, then I realized someone must have lost their pinpointer. I walked toward the noise, and don’t you know, there it was, a nice garrett carrot out there all alone in the field singing for its owner.

I was glad I found it, because I have been the victim of lost pinpointer before. It sucks trying to retrace your steps, and all the while you’re pissed at yourself because you lost it, and maybe you don’t have, or don’t want to expend the cash to buy a new one. Thankfully it was left on, and was beeping its existence, because it was the best find of the day for me, knowing it would be the best find of the day for whoever lost it.

I really wasn’t to keen on cutting the detecting day short, so on my way out, I hooked up with Jo Jo and Jimmy from our club, and followed them to hunt a cellar hole site. It was pretty picked over, but Jimmy managed to pull out a button. We then headed to another site which was a field/park that at one time had some old houses and a factory nearby. Again Jimmy got a nice flat button. I ended up with a button a whatzit, a quarter two dimes, and a few pieces of a harmonica reed, and Jo Jo found an exceptionally nice fishing lure that he is sure to re-use.

It was getting late, and although I love the feeling of exhausting my body hunting all day, I hated to admit it, but I was tired. I hadn’t hunted all day like that since winter had taken over.

So once again, a big thank you goes out here to Roger for hooking the club up with the site to hunt. It was a great day, and a great way to begin the new detecting season.