First Silver Of The Year ! And the Pied Piper Strikes again.

[Frodov]

What a gorgeous day it was today here in Lexington Kentucky. After the last few days of wet and cold and dreary weather, today's sunshine and mild temperatures were welcomed indeed. I even got to get out and enjoy it a bit, even if my dear wife was still laid up on the couch with a broken ankle. *sigh* I've been waiting on her hand and foot since Wednesday evening when she took a spill off our front porch. We WERE on our way to get a bite to eat, and perhaps a drink or two... but instead we spent the evening at an Urgent Treatment Center getting her appendage inspected, x-rayed, and wrapped up. Then getting a prescription filled and instructing her on the use of crutches. Oh, and making several ice packs. Just call her "grace". <smile> Anyway, since I wasn't going to be disco dancing anytime soon (think JibJab.com)... and the weather was so very nice out, while my dearest was napping in a narcotic induced stupor convalescing on the couch, I went to a nearby park and then a couple of school playgrounds.
In the park I found the usual assortment of pull tabs, bottle caps, can slaw and some clad.. and some odd bits and pieces of metal. One was this rather bent valve stem (lifter valve) from an old engine of some sort. I don't think you can tell from the pic that the stem is hollow and the top is as well. <shrug>
Moving on to the first school playground, one of which I have not detected at before, I found myself completely alone. Well, being a Saturday helped of course, but with the fair weather I was still kind of surprised by the vacancy. Not that I needed to concern myself about that for long. By the time I was halfway through the woodchips I had a gaggle of google eyed munchkins tagging along behind me whispering and pointing and giggling. <blushing> At first I thought I might have had a split in my britches or something but thank goodness that was NOT the case. <rolling eyes> Of course there came the inevitable questions.. like "Hey Mister! Can you find GOLD with that?" , "Did you find something?" "Can I see?" "What else can you find with that?" <grin> When politely ignoring the crowd fails, I eventually pull out my Pull Tab Prestidigitation routine. It's amazing how fast following the detector guy gets old when all he seems to be finding are Pull Tabs. <chuckle>
That was that.. the munchkins moved on and I resumed searching in peace.. under the watchful eyes of both the munchkins from a distance, and their moms or nannies or whoever. I found a fair amount of clad along with some other odd bits and pieces. Push pins, paper clips, a rivet head, mechanical pencil. LOTS AND LOTS of Erasure barrels.. or whatever they call those little strips of metal that secure the erasure to the end of the pencil. <shrug> Oh, and of course.. PULL TABS.
Moving on to yet another schoolyard playground I again found my self with a line of munchkins following me.. ? What is it about metal detectors?? One second I'm completely alone in the playground then the next I've got a very interactive and inquisitive audience. Oh well.. more pull tabs and they soon let me continue on my own. <grin> Well that is all but one.. but she was no Munchkin. I had noticed an elderly lady following me a little bit earlier, but I had assumed she was keeping an eye on one or more of the kids that were tagging along in my wake. But when the kids lost interest and moved on, this gal still shadowed me. She'd move from one bench to the next keeping me in sight and just casually observing me with this rather odd smile on her face. Now when I say "elderly" I meant just that, this gal had to be in her 70's or so, but then I may be off a few years, I've never been very good at guessing women's age. After I took notice that I was being observed and followed, if from a polite distance, I began to wonder what the fascination was.
Eventually I worked my way around the woodchips and playground equipment till my sweeping brought me to within a couple of paces from this lady with the sad smile. I took a break from my searching and greeted her and we chatted a bit about the weather and the kids and their fleeting fascination with the metal detector. I was dying to ask why she was watching me but I couldn't bring myself to come right out and be rude or anything, but in the end I didn't have to. Tess, her name by the way, asked me if she had made me uncomfortable and if so she apologized. She told me that her late husband used to be an avid metal detectorist.. actually used those very words!... and that he used to love to detect in the parks and wherever he could find to "play". "He used to marvel at the discovery of the simplest things." she told me. "But he's passed on now and when I saw you detecting here in the playground it just made me remember how much he enjoyed doing the same thing."
Well needless to say I was rather flabbergasted. Those little chills running up your back and goosebumps on your arms.. all that. Tess thanked me for just doing what I was doing, and giving her a small glimpse back in the past to a happy time in her life. Yeah, I had a lump in my throat for the rest of the time I was detecting today.. and even now when I think back on it and share this with you all. With smiles and warm feelings we parted ways as she walked back through the park (adjacent to the playground) towards home and I resumed detecting around some larger trees in the schoolyard.
A bit more clad, a few more pull tabs and then one very nice ping! I thought I'd found a nice quarter or something a bit larger from the looks of the readout on my Prizm.. but instead I unearthed this rather plain looking ring. Plain, but SILVER!!! Whatever stone had once been set in this ring had long since vanished, heck, it may still be in the hole I dug it from, but I didn't see anything. After cleaning it up a bit with my wipe rag *(standard utility belt item)* I could make out 925 on the inside of the band.. and some lettering that I couldn't quite read. <shrug> Oh well.. it's definitely silver!
*sigh* Perhaps it was a small token from a former enthusiast, a thank you for making an old gal smile. ?? <que the music for The Twilight Zone>.. "Submitted for you approval..."
Ok Ok Ok.. still though, it was a wonderful day, and while not striking it rich monetarily speaking I did discover a little treasure, both in substance and in conscience. Politeness is its own reward.


Here's the pics for the day.. the entire haul.. a few items of interest .. oh And did I mention that I'd found another one of those elusive Chuck E Cheese tokens?? Got quite a collection of them now. <smile>

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Happy Hunting Everyone! Keep Smiling!


Frodov

 

[allen]

Lots of really cool finds. I use to live in Winchester, but now live in Shelbyville. I always wanted to detect in Lexington, but wasnt sure where to go without getting in trouble with the police. I' ve heard they are really strict on us detectorist in some cities . Maybe sometime this summer we can hit a few spots in Winchester and Lexington.

 

[Frodov]

Allen, pleased to meet you. Small world isn't it? As far as getting into trouble in Lexington with the police, I've never had even a hint of a problem. Then again, I do tend to stay to places that aren't exactly questionable to begin with. I hunt mainly city parks, public school playgrounds (when school is NOT in session) and private properties that I have permission to search on. There are LOTS of places around this town I'd love to hunt but have yet to get permission or even ask yet, therefore I will not be detecting there.. at least until I do ask and get permission. One place I'd love to detect locally that has had me running into dead ends is the Bluegrass fairgrounds out at Masterson Station Park. The fair is run by the Bluegrass Lions Club and when not open for the fair or special events, the fair grounds are kept locked up. I can understand why though, I mean with all that electrical wiring and plumbling run underground there's a good chance that someone would fry themselves if they dug in the wrong spot, not to mention the possibility (eventuality) of vandalism and other nefarious activities at or to the buildings and grounds if they were left open to access by everyone all the time. Oh well, I still am able to detect in the acres of surrounding park land where people park when the fair is going on. <grin>
As far as dreading the police in this town, again I don't have a problem.. in fact it's comforting to see a patrol car cruise by now and then, especially if I've got my headphones on and am caught up in the hunt. I tend to focus too much sometimes and lose my "situational awareness".. you know, what's going on around me. Not a good thing, no matter what you are doing.
One point that you might consider, no matter where you detect, is carrying not only your identification, but perhaps some cards that you can give out. Business cards.. or at least cards of that size. I found a graphic on line that I liked and my wife made me a business card template, from which I made about 100 cards. I've given away almost two thirds of them since June of last year. The cards lend you a bit more credibility and "respectability" when you present them to anyone you come in contact with while detecting.. oh, like land owners.. of properties that you might like to search on someday, and people just interested in what you are doing, officials.. be they grounds keepers, administrators, and of course any law enforcement .. IE police, park rangers etc.
I guess they figure if you took the time to put your contact information together on a card, and are willing to share them (the cards) with interested or concerned parties, then you are not as likely to be a threat or a problem.. "Credibility" <smile>
Shelbyville huh? Close to Louisville and LOTS AND LOTS OF PARKS!!!! Old parks too! My friend you have more places to detect than you know.. way more than I do here in my town. <smile> Just remember, stay with the public lands, unless otherwise posted, and if you go to private property, get permission first. And cary your ID and perhaps some card(s) that you can hand out to interested parties.

Happy Hunting my friend.

Frodov

 

[cntrydncr1]

Nice finds! Love the ring.

 

[CarolinaDigs]

Great post Frov

 

[civilman1]

Look's like some healthy Silver Frodov....Congrat's and HH!!

 

[TN-Joe]

Frodov,
Always a pleasure to read one of your posts. You did good talking with that lady.
I always remember that sometime we entertain angels-unaware.
Nice ring find, along with the clad.
HH<S
Tennessee Joe

 

[Frodov]

Thanks Joe.. I like that line, "...sometimes we entertain angels-unaware." It just sticks in my mind for some reason. <smile> I'll have to remember that one. Thanks for the comments.

Too often we all get self absorbed, caught up in our own day to day existance and our own personal priorities and problems. We fail to see what's around us and even other people. Every life is a story, and every story is an adventure awaiting discovery. As we go through our day to day, minding our own business, sometimes I guess we really do, as you say, "...entertain angels-unaware." <smile>


Have a great day.. and as always.. Happy Hunting.


Frodov

 

[River Rat]

Great story, Frodov. Really like that ring...looks old.

RR