We call it "Uncle Dave's Place," because my great great Uncle Dave lived there until his death in the late 70's. Uncle Dave was a local folk legend, the kids would tell stories of a wild man, that once a month, rode to town on the back of donkey pulling a cart wagon, singing " Ol' My Darling," as he swayed back and forth, with his feet swinging loosely, his balance always in question, holding the reins in one hand, and a bottle of Whiskey in the other. He would ride down Main Street, turn left at the light, and park his donkey at the liquor Store. Tying his steed, usually to the car bumper of the store clerk, he would make his dismount, gracefully yet gingerly, and walk into the store with legs like a new born calf.
The legend of Uncle Dave was true, he was a professional drinker, and occasional farmer, as my Grandmother so profoundly state, with her Temperance Union Stoic look, staring down her nose at us children, hoping we didn't catch a whiff of her "afternoon nip" breath.
I hadn't been out to Dave's house to detect since last summer, the mosquitoes were so bad I only spent ten minutes attempting to detect. So, I thanked my aunt, repeatedly, as hurried out the door, jumping in the van, I started out of town, heading south.
Uncle Dave's is in between Larned and Belpre Kansas, (Note: when a Kansan says in between two towns, he or she doesn't mean literally. As the prairie is flat, we use towns as land marks to generalize where we are. If I can see Larned and Belpre, and they are the closest two towns to me, I would say I am in between the two though in reality I may be 5 to 15 miles off the beaten path in either direction.) It is surrounded by a grove of trees, in the middle of a half section that both my Grandmas own, ( we will dive into that at a later date.) The house itself is dilapidated, the roof has caved in and the walls are sinking. The old barn is a pile of ruins, and, except for this time of year, is a notorious snake haven. The only functional building is the newer aluminum sided barn/shop that my grandpa had built when he farmed the land in the 60's. This isn't a beginners place to detect. It has fallen trees, a thick layer of underbrush, and 100's of " beaver tales" ( for the novice, a beaver tale is the old style pull tab off a beer can etc.,) strewn about the property. It was a perfect day, sun was shining, the temp was just cool enough for a light jacket, the wind was a light breeze ( in Central and Western Kansas a light breeze is anything between 10 to 30 mph gusts,) blowing just enough to keep any remaining insects away from you, the ground was thawed and soft to dig ( in this area the black soil is mixed with dessert like sand that makes it easy to dig and makes for quick thawing. I can dig 2 foot down with my hand trowel in under a minute in most fields.) I began detecting.
Detecting to me is an almost spiritual thing, a form of meditation and free thought if your will. I grew up with ADHD, I could never focus on anything for more than a few seconds all the way into adulthood. Metal Detecting changed that. The constant beeps and tones from the headphones keeps my attention focused as the constant swinging appeases my hyper activity. It distracts the ADHD if you will, and lets my mind think freely without interuptio...squirrel...see what I mean, lol. No, it really does free me from having to constantly remind my self to refocus. I used this method in college, I would focus on a sound, a tapping of a pencil, the steady breathe of the mouth breather behind me, the tics of the clock, then my site on a repeatedly moving or swaying item, like the clock hands, some one's foot tapping, any constant movement, then I rub my hand back and forth on my pant leg, simulating a smooth detecting stroke. This helped me retain more of the information being taught and raised my grades a bunch. I wish I would of discovered this in high school, I may of been a little less in the principles office and a little more in the classroom... on second thought.... yea, I doubt it.
I didn't find anything to mention, some beaver tales, washers, fencing, old tarp eyelets, caps off something, and some cool rocks is about all. There is one item that is worth cleaning, I don't want to get hopes up, but it does appear to have an eagle on it, but hard to say, it is soaking in dish water right now. I will update you at a later date. I do plan on putting out a new Youtube video by the end of the week, I am hunting another homestead tomorrow that holds a little more promise than ol' Uncle Dave's.
Being in nature, getting a little dirt under my nails, and connecting with my past, I would say, all in all, it was a Beautiful day.
Thanks for reading, and HH.
As a side note, I would like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. I appreciate all the re posts and site's adding links, Like High Plains Prospectors did. I hope you all enjoyed this segment, more is on the way, please tell your friends and family if you like what you read, I added a subscription I believe, down below, please tell me if it works, I am not the most tech savvy guy.
Thanks Again,
Kansas Digger
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