Kapi
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For those that don't like to read:
Dick and I hit the pier today for the super low tide
A man comes up to me asking "What is the coolest thing you ever found."
I tell the man about the fallen Officer bracelet I found and returned.
I take notice to two really nice rings the man is wearing and warn him not to go in the water with them on.
I go back to detecting.
The same man comes back 15 minutes later, less one ring.
I offer to try to find it for him.
He tells me it's not lost, that he buried it for me to find.
The man gives me three clues to find it and one hour stating if I find it I can keep it.
I find it in 5 minutes buried near one of a hundred different things he could have used to mark the spot where he buried it." (he didn't tell me he marked it but common sense told me he had to have)
The man refuses to take the ring back.
I cry and almost get struck by lighting three or four times.
Those strikes were close weren't they Dick???!!
As I sit down to write this post I'm still in disbelief....
Hit the pier today and yet again someone came up to me and asked "What's the coolest thing you ever found?" We get this a lot and honestly I usually don't mind as I'm a people person and can many times talk more than I detect. I just love people
So I go into the story with him briefly about the recent fallen Officer bracelet I found and how after 3 to 4 months I finally found the owner of it in Kentucky and returned it. This gentleman, his name is Jim I believe, seemed pretty interested in the return story and then went on to tell me how his uncle detects for relics. I noticed Jim was wearing two rather nice gold rings, one on his left hand wedding finger with a diamond and a large nugget ring on his right hand. I told him relics are nice but that is what I'm after and I reached out and tapped his ring. I told him "Don't wear that in the water, you may lose it." He thanked me and at this point I'm wanting now after ten minutes of talking to get back to detecting this awesome low tide we have going on right now so I politely excused myself and went on my way for about 15 minutes.
A rather large storm was moving in so instead of moving further south I decided to head back to the pier and noticed the same man moving towards me out of the corner of my eye. I kept my gaze on the ground and crashing waves hoping he'd go right by but then I hear 'Excuse me". So I stop and chat with him again.
Here is where things get interesting and perhaps unbelievable. My friend Dick who was detecting nearby says had he not seen it happen himself he'd not believe it and I can understand why! Jim says to me, You have one hour." I said "One hour?" He holds up his hand and the ring that was on his right hand is gone. I said to him "Oh no you lost it in the water?" I glanced up at the approaching storm and think "He's right we have less than an hour" so I said "Show me where you think you lost it and I'll try to get it back for you."
He says with a big smile "I didn't lose it, I buried it and I'm going to give you one hour and three clues and if you find it before the hour is up you can keep it." I didn't really believe him so I asked his wife if he was serious and she said with a smile "We like to pay it forward."
His three clues were 9, pier, and right angle. I figured he buried it along the ninth leg line at a right angle to the pier and started my search there. I then thought to myself "If he really buried this gold ring he must have marked it with something so he could find it if I didn't." I saw a sand drip castle in the 9th leg line and started my search around that but heard nothing. The sand was still very wet and there were no dig marks anywhere. I then started doing a grid search and as I got close to a shell I slowed down a bit and checked there but heard nothing then I saw a feather sticking up barely in the sand. It was one of about 100 different items laying on the top of the wet sand that he could have used to mark where he hid the ring. Since it was in my grid search pattern I checked around it and a few inches away from it there was that GREAT GOLD SOUND. I dug it up and sure enough it was his ring.
I then walked over to him after my exhausting 5 minute search and tried to hand it back to him. He refused to take it. He said "I am a man of my word, I said you can keep it if you find it and you found it, just someday pay it forward."
Of course now I'm in tears and hugging him and still trying to give it back but he would not take it. At this point the life guards announced an incoming severe storm and warned people to leave the beach. I asked Jim and his wife if they could meet me up at the pavilion to exchange contact information and he said sure. They were gathering their things and not too far behind Dick and I as we headed for shelter. An hour later, they never showed up at the pavilion, it was still lightly raining but the main storm had passed. (Man that lightning was CLOSE) I checked the pier store, nobody. I checked the parking lot and it was virtually empty. They were simply gone.
All I know is they are Jim and his wife and I'm not even sure that name is correct but I recall his last name was Dial and that they were from Indiana or was it Louisiana.....
Those of you that know me know I've had 22 ring returns, 5 necklace returns and one very sentimental bracelet return. I've also returned two cell phones and two sets of car keys. I'm the one that is usually doing the good deed. It is a very odd yet rewarding experience to be on the receiving end. I actually feel in a way like I cheated the man out of a ring. I mean I have a metal detector and I know that pier like the back of my hand. I told him this and he would not take it back.
I suppose you can say that answering that "What's the coolest thing you ever found?" question has finally paid off, though it pays off for me in so many ways over and over and over again just by meeting great people as I detect.
The silver ring I found the other day and just put it in the picture to better show the size of the nugget ring. Which by the way is exactly 7 grams. Did I mention I was born on the 7th and it's my favorite number?
Dick and I hit the pier today for the super low tide
A man comes up to me asking "What is the coolest thing you ever found."
I tell the man about the fallen Officer bracelet I found and returned.
I take notice to two really nice rings the man is wearing and warn him not to go in the water with them on.
I go back to detecting.
The same man comes back 15 minutes later, less one ring.
I offer to try to find it for him.
He tells me it's not lost, that he buried it for me to find.
The man gives me three clues to find it and one hour stating if I find it I can keep it.
I find it in 5 minutes buried near one of a hundred different things he could have used to mark the spot where he buried it." (he didn't tell me he marked it but common sense told me he had to have)
The man refuses to take the ring back.
I cry and almost get struck by lighting three or four times.
Those strikes were close weren't they Dick???!!
As I sit down to write this post I'm still in disbelief....
Hit the pier today and yet again someone came up to me and asked "What's the coolest thing you ever found?" We get this a lot and honestly I usually don't mind as I'm a people person and can many times talk more than I detect. I just love people
So I go into the story with him briefly about the recent fallen Officer bracelet I found and how after 3 to 4 months I finally found the owner of it in Kentucky and returned it. This gentleman, his name is Jim I believe, seemed pretty interested in the return story and then went on to tell me how his uncle detects for relics. I noticed Jim was wearing two rather nice gold rings, one on his left hand wedding finger with a diamond and a large nugget ring on his right hand. I told him relics are nice but that is what I'm after and I reached out and tapped his ring. I told him "Don't wear that in the water, you may lose it." He thanked me and at this point I'm wanting now after ten minutes of talking to get back to detecting this awesome low tide we have going on right now so I politely excused myself and went on my way for about 15 minutes.
A rather large storm was moving in so instead of moving further south I decided to head back to the pier and noticed the same man moving towards me out of the corner of my eye. I kept my gaze on the ground and crashing waves hoping he'd go right by but then I hear 'Excuse me". So I stop and chat with him again.
Here is where things get interesting and perhaps unbelievable. My friend Dick who was detecting nearby says had he not seen it happen himself he'd not believe it and I can understand why! Jim says to me, You have one hour." I said "One hour?" He holds up his hand and the ring that was on his right hand is gone. I said to him "Oh no you lost it in the water?" I glanced up at the approaching storm and think "He's right we have less than an hour" so I said "Show me where you think you lost it and I'll try to get it back for you."
He says with a big smile "I didn't lose it, I buried it and I'm going to give you one hour and three clues and if you find it before the hour is up you can keep it." I didn't really believe him so I asked his wife if he was serious and she said with a smile "We like to pay it forward."
His three clues were 9, pier, and right angle. I figured he buried it along the ninth leg line at a right angle to the pier and started my search there. I then thought to myself "If he really buried this gold ring he must have marked it with something so he could find it if I didn't." I saw a sand drip castle in the 9th leg line and started my search around that but heard nothing. The sand was still very wet and there were no dig marks anywhere. I then started doing a grid search and as I got close to a shell I slowed down a bit and checked there but heard nothing then I saw a feather sticking up barely in the sand. It was one of about 100 different items laying on the top of the wet sand that he could have used to mark where he hid the ring. Since it was in my grid search pattern I checked around it and a few inches away from it there was that GREAT GOLD SOUND. I dug it up and sure enough it was his ring.
I then walked over to him after my exhausting 5 minute search and tried to hand it back to him. He refused to take it. He said "I am a man of my word, I said you can keep it if you find it and you found it, just someday pay it forward."
Of course now I'm in tears and hugging him and still trying to give it back but he would not take it. At this point the life guards announced an incoming severe storm and warned people to leave the beach. I asked Jim and his wife if they could meet me up at the pavilion to exchange contact information and he said sure. They were gathering their things and not too far behind Dick and I as we headed for shelter. An hour later, they never showed up at the pavilion, it was still lightly raining but the main storm had passed. (Man that lightning was CLOSE) I checked the pier store, nobody. I checked the parking lot and it was virtually empty. They were simply gone.
All I know is they are Jim and his wife and I'm not even sure that name is correct but I recall his last name was Dial and that they were from Indiana or was it Louisiana.....
Those of you that know me know I've had 22 ring returns, 5 necklace returns and one very sentimental bracelet return. I've also returned two cell phones and two sets of car keys. I'm the one that is usually doing the good deed. It is a very odd yet rewarding experience to be on the receiving end. I actually feel in a way like I cheated the man out of a ring. I mean I have a metal detector and I know that pier like the back of my hand. I told him this and he would not take it back.
I suppose you can say that answering that "What's the coolest thing you ever found?" question has finally paid off, though it pays off for me in so many ways over and over and over again just by meeting great people as I detect.
The silver ring I found the other day and just put it in the picture to better show the size of the nugget ring. Which by the way is exactly 7 grams. Did I mention I was born on the 7th and it's my favorite number?
