Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
I talked a little about this topic before, but felt like revisiting it today. If you ever get the chance to metal detect around where you grew up and where you played as a young child do it. I did, and I'm glad I did.  |
| A Couple of Small Poor Quality Beach Emeralds |
Yes Virginia, the Treasure Coast does have emeralds. Above are two small ones recently found on Treasure Coast shipwreck beaches. Unfortunately, they are poor - not transparent or "gemmy" at all. I've found larger and nicer ones. I don't know what could be done with these ones, but I'm going to find out someday. Maybe they wouldn't look bad if they were polished or cabbed.
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I knew those spots like no other person that ever lived. There was the bare spot in the shade under the pussy willow tree where me and Bed Bug used our toy trucks and cars and bulldozer to make small dirt roads.
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| Sixty Some Years Ago |
There was the area just outside grandma's back door where the table and lawn chairs were set for family picnics.
There was the area where the old swing stood. The swing set served as my field goal post as I learned to kick a football, which eventually paid for part of my college education.
There was another small flat area beside a shed that once had a basketball hoop nailed to the side. It wasn't a very good basketball court, but it is what I had. If you missed from the right, you'd never catch up with the ball until it ended up in the creek a few hundred yards down the hill. That might be why you don't find many country kids in the NBA.
There was another shady flat strip that ran under the clothes line behind grandma's house where she hung a chicken to drain the blood after cutting the head off.
Those are just a few of the areas that I knew so well. Some didn't look the same at all these many years later, but I knew how they looked back when.
Here are a few of the things I found.
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| A Few Of My Old Toys Recovered |
It was a time when my dad and grandpa and grandma were still alive. It was a time when my mother was young. It brought me back to warm summer days, green grass, blue skies, swaying trees with rustling leaves, giggles and laughing, senseless but joyful running and jumping and old friends, who like me, had no idea what life would bring. It makes me young again for a while when I look at those finds. They are more precious than silver or gold - but only to me.
I guess I'm lucky to have been metal detecting so long and been able to do that. I'm lucky that my childhood was so rich with wonderful memories. I'm lucky that I can still remember.
For me, the best metal detecting you can ever do is when you recover the artifacts of your own history and touch your youth again.
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You might recognize a few good clues in the above that you can use at other metal detecting sites. When you arrive at a site, stand silently and meditate on the site for a while. I do the same thing at the beach. Imagine what might have taken place there in the past. Does the ground look natural or was the earth moved for some reason? What does the lay of the land suggest? What might have happened there.
You might have noticed that I mentioned flat areas a few times. I'm talking mostly about land sites here, but flat areas are often made for a specific purpose. Often they are the result of some type of repeated activity.
In Florida, there are so few hills that it is does not mean as much as it does up north, but there are other types of clues. You will want to look at the vegetation. Ornamentals, bare spots or groves can all be good indicators. That could be a complete post for some other day.
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On the Treasure Coast today we have a south wind and one-foot surf. There is also a small negative tide. It should be a good day for browsing the water line and in the shallow water.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net