mystories

Name: Nancy
Age: 39:
I am married with three very active children. I work full time as a nurse in occupational health. I don't have a lot of time for myself, let alone hobbies. That's why I think I really deserve to get out once in a while, metal detecting is like a retreat, better than a spa or a cruise. Well, okay so maybe I am elaborating a little! It is certainly not a sport for the meek and timid. You have to get dirty, it involves a lot of walking and one could develop a cumulative trauma disorder from swinging the coil. Hey, there is even a risk of getting bitten or stung by something! I like to take a lot of breaks and examine my newly found treasures. I especially like to stop for the picnic lunch I bring along and down a can of pepsi. It sort of reminds me of my detassling days, except I am not getting paid. There is still hope that I might get a sun tan, but since most of my body would be covered, I won't look like I did in my bikini days. Oh well, maybe after several months of this strenuous exercise I could look like that again. See...I am a dreamer. That's why I like this hobby so much.

My first detecting experience was spent getting to know my machine. I dug up everything. Well really I gave my then 5 year old son a shovel and put him to work. I think he's a dreamer like myself, because he didn't want to stop until he found that one little token of pull tab, just in case it was a something valuable. He dug a pit along side the Missouri river so deep, I thought I might be able to market his talents and make flood control levee's instead. Just while I was daydreaming about him becoming an engineer for the corps, Ben suddlenly stopped digging, he had a ghostly expression on his face. "Hey Mom" he exclaimed. "What if we find a ring?" "Oh, Ben that would be wonderful." I replied. He spouted back " Well, yes Mom it would be. But what if that ring was still attached to a hand?" Oh my, I guess I don't have a son who'll be an engineer in the future, but Stephen King makes a lot of money too!

Last year my friend Pam and I went detecting on our family farm property in Nebraska. It was a spring day, before planting season, but yet after most of the fields were disked. The soil is sandy so it was fairly easy to dig. We knew the location of 3 abandoned homes, one of which was perhaps the first in the county. The home sites dated to the mid-late 1800's. In spite of all our persistance, we didn't find anything valuable, but we certainly had a lot of fun. Our first find was a huge horseshoe..judging from the size it must of came from a plow horse. We also found a harness ring, a pocket watch a 1950's bars leak jar. We also dug up some sort of rock that contained metal, I think it was concrete mixed with lead, probably some sort of run off from blacksmithing. We were captivated by an excellent deep & wide signal in the middle of a field, and kept digging until we could determine what the object was. It was nothing more than a pink-red enamled dish pan, but it still conjured up thoughts of the home that was there many years ago. The fragments of glassware that we found near the soil surface told us that one house was bulldozed before the contents were removed. No telling what is left to find at these homesites.
I have to admit, I think I have lived the suburban life for too many years. I was afraid of the possiblity of running into wild animals or snakes. Something that wouldn't have phased me in my younger farm life years. As we went by a bank with a freshly dug den, I just had to peer into the deep dark hole. I noticed two little beady eyes staring back at me & let out a scream. I didn't want to know what was in there that bad & decided I better not disturb it, especially since I wasn't packing a pistol.
In this part of the country the only animals that we might have to contend with would either be a beaver, fox, skunk, coyote, raccoon or a badger...the latter being the most dangerous..especially to a chicken like me!

"In like a lion and out like a lamb." We had a snowstorm here on March 1st, so hopefully it will be nice at the end of the month. Our winter was mild so there is not much of a frost line in the ground.
I am hoping to get out and do some detecting soon. I am getting cabin fever, ready for some adventure. Lord knows I could use the exercise. When I have some real detecting stories to share I will post them on this page. So for now, good bye & happy hunting!

Nancy