Monthly Archives: September 2011

A Detectorist’s One Year Anniversary (2 of 2)

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Now that I’ve shared with you an overview of my (for the most part) non-coin finds, it’s time for a quick glance toward the cash. Since most of my targets are found in area tot lots, neighborhood parks, around schools, and around a baseball park complex, the majority of the clad is common, everyday modern coinage. I’m still looking to dig my first silver coin!

I’ll admit, right off the bat, that, at this rate, I’ll never find enough to pay for my equipment. But, money truly isn’t everything (though finding a hand full tends to raise my blood pressure to normal). Some of my most valuable finds, as a matter of fact, are fresh air, exercise, solitude, and extra prayer time. Occasionally I’ll encounter one of God’s little creatures with whom I share a small plot of ground. It is on those rare occasions that I feel exceedingly blessed.

Back to the cash! I find quarters to be most exciting because, naturally, they’re more valuable than those non-silver, smaller denominations. More than half of this 6-month total is made up of $12.25 in quarters. The greatest contributor to that was the ball park. Dimes held a strong second place with $8.50. Nickels are, by far, the most illusive but I still snagged $1.10. What can I say about those pennies?! They represent more holes than any other though they’re worth almost nothing! I tend to look at pennies as, simply, a number of holes. One hundred sixty-seven is a lot of holes to dig for something with so little value! Sigh…I still feel compelled to dig any and all targets that sound like a coin or piece of jewelry.

While the first half of my booty was a compilation of 407 coins (discussed here), this last half wasn’t bad with 322 — for a grand total of $23.52! So, my first year in metal detecting brought in $49.24 (shown to the right).. For those “seasoned” detectorists, this is a mere drop in their bucket. This amount would be “a really good week” for some. But then, they eat, sleep, and breathe this exhilarating hobby. Me? Well, I’m far more casual about things. I’m slow and deliberate in both “the hunt” and “the hole.” After all, with me, it’s all about “the journey” rather than “the destination” and I give myself the time to enjoy the hunt!

Christ in Her Eyes

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It’s said that critters have no souls – much less huge brain power. And, in my mind, that’s likely true. However, God has put them on this earth and in our lives for a reason. Occasionally, they serve a much larger purpose than one might expect.

Suzi grooved on greeting me immediately when I walk into the door. That particular day was no different…with one exception. She moved up toward me as I moved down toward her. (Dachshunds are pretty short, you know.) For lack of a better word, I “scrunched” her beautiful black and tan face and head between my hands (giving her lots of extra wrinkles) as she sniffed my face thoroughly. Our eyes met and I fell into their deep brown.

“I love you. I’ll defend you. I love you. I’d die for you. I love you. Walk with me. Talk to me. Touch me. I love you more than you can know. Spend time with me. I depend on you. You depend on me. I love you. I died for you…” The entire thing was pretty overwhelming!

Then it dawned on me that, in that split second, Christ had asked our sweet, loving pup to serve as His vessel…a medium of sorts. He had something to say and chose her through whom to speak.

The words had filled my head so quickly that I was stunned. Why those particular words and why then? Questions remain unanswered — for my own brain is far too small. But there was a purpose. There always is.

Now I’m prodded to ask a question. When God looks into my eyes…and my heart…what does He see? I think that a prayer that I said quite awhile back still applies: “Father, may the me that I am better reflect the You that You have always been. Amen.”

For the sake of some interaction, let me pose a question to you. (Yes…YOU!) What does God see when He looks into your eyes? Or, what do you want Him to see? Answer in the form of a comment. There’s no need to be shy for, after all, we do share the same Father. I look forward to your response.

That’s a very personal question so, an answer isn’t needed unless you feel comfortable. Instead, feel free to simply respond with a comment on what you think about what I’ve shared here. This was written before her passing before me and I’ve made slight changes here and there.

The Mystery of the Shyly Wagging Tail

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As she waddled toward me, I knew that something was very wrong. I’d just gotten home from a one-week trip to Maui and she greeted me with cool nose and an unusual shyly wagging tail. That spoke volumes as it traditionally pounds enthusiastically against the cabinets. Yup, she’d done something and it was my job to discover exactly what!

Suzi appeared to have gained weight (perhaps 5 lbs.) over a very short period of time. The man of the house swore that he’d only given her “the usual” food and supplements. So, knowing that she thinks that she is starving, literally, all the time, I suspected that she’d discovered an alternate food source!

My suspicions were confirmed when I took her outside to “do her business.” Upon seeing the specimen that she deposited, one of two things were made clear. Either Suzi had developed a plethora of unusually shaped parasites or she’d been eating birdseed from beneath the feeder! This had been done in spite of the little snap-together fence that we’ve had around it for a few months. She’d clearly grazed on seed for days!

It was obvious that Suz had valued volume over taste as the seeds were undamaged — leaving peanuts easy to identify! So, her size was less the result of weight gain and more the result of BLOATING! She was about to explode!

Wrong. She had already exploded…in my office area! It took me a while to discover the…shrapnel but even longer to repair the damage. Each of the no-less-than eight piles were brimming with seed!

Now, I knew that I couldn’t change the “quality” of my hubby’s “watching the girls” because retraining (at his age) is all but impossible. So, we now have a new, one-piece circular fence around the bird feeder area. Suzi will have to either dig…or fly in order to get to her recently discovered food source.

A Tale of Two Thousand

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Upon our arrival in Maui, we decided to accomplish our objective first. What was that? As you may remember, the first was to return to a massively beautiful island but the second was to find and log our 2,000th geocache.

When we touched down, that accomplished the first part of the goal. Naturally getting settled had to happen before we could cross the second off of our list. At the time of touchdown, we had 1,998 geocaches logged. That left us with a minimum of two to find.

Number 1,998 was a nice little cache snuggling up against a fence in a beach-access type park across the street from the farmers’ market in Ka’anapali. “Cool! That was easy enough! No sweat!” Then we headed toward “the big one.”

Or so we thought. Based on the fact that we weren’t “locals,” we encountered a few problems. First, we put our sights on one and managed to drive within seventy feet of it. The problem? It was located in a hugely upscale area that provided, essentially, private parking for their guests only. So, we were handicapped, to say the least. We tried to approach it from a different direction but, still, were thwarted.

Feeling discouraged, we decided to look again at the cache named, “Sugar Cane Train.” We’d driven by that one thinking, “There’s no way we’re gonna park across a busy 5-lane street and scamper up a substantial mound of dirt and rock covered in foliage…on the other side of the street!”

At one point, we even saw a little train on the tracks running parallel to the (essentially) highway. Eventually, we turned onto something that ran parallel to the tracks. Though it didn’t look or feel like a road, it ended up being what we’d been hoping for. At last! A safe, easy way to cache #2,000!

From that point, it was a snap! There it was…a camo-taped lock-and-lock container resting at the base of a nice little bolder and hidden by a rock. Taking the celebratory photo above was challenging but, as you see, we managed to use the nearby railroad track and a timer.

Objective: Geocache number two thousand found and logged in Maui? Check! Mission accomplished!

Priorities Are Situational

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It’s true that we aren’t ever too old to learn. In a sense, I’ve known this to be true for years (as is evidenced by the fact that I really enjoy learning new things even at the “ripe old age” of sixty-four).

We go through life thinking,” What I want is what’s important!” “Our own lives are our priority!” And that’s true…if we live with our head in a hole; if we’re living lives that don’t touch the lives of others; if we’re not grandparents; and lastly, if we’re not children of God.

When did this revelation occur? Actually, it was more of a reminder. Probably when we were keeping Jesse and Benjamin for several days. Then it was confirmed when Daniel came for his visit. Quite simply, our priorities need to change depending on what is going on with other people. Perhaps I’ve achieved the epitome of flemsibility? Wrong! It was just a little reality check. Call it a reminder that, if there other people within our sphere of influence, space or circle, those very people should become our priority…even though it’s our life!

After all…What if Jesus had walked through life without changing His priorities to lift up or include the people around Him?

A Milestone In Maui?

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One Thousand, nine hundred ninety-eight geocaches is what my “cachin’ buddy” and I had logged so far. Three years ago we found our 1,000th cache in Maui, Hawaii. That’s a substantial “milestone” within the geocaching community and we still enjoy the hobby because it forces us into activity, movement, and exercise.

Now we had thoughts of quite an adventure bouncing around in our brains. Geocache number 2,000 was on the horizon! Maui was also in our sights again because it’s such a beautiful island and we’d both wanted to spend more time there. Perhaps we should hatch a plan. So, wanting to “kill two birds with one stone,” we decided to (under the guise of efficiency?) combine the two! It sounded reasonable to us that it would make our milestone even more memorable if we found it…where else…but in Maui! So, stay tuned for my Tale of Two Thousand!

You Know It’s Hot When…

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You know that it’s too hot when, upon shopping for a couple of hours you return to your car to discover that your gym ID card (which was laying on the nicely padded dashboard) has almost entered the melting stage! One of its corners had begun to turn toward the sun and it felt almost soft. Luckily I was able to flatten then revive it with a burst of AC. We need more rain…and much less heat in Texas!