Mr. Flannigan Would Be Proud
When I was little, around age 9 or 10, my mom bought me a bare bones, toy-like metal detector from Radio Shack. It could find bottle caps, things near the surface of the sand and not much more. We lived in Ocean City, NJ at that time and I had an ENTIRE BEACH to search for buried treasures. I loved it.
Around that time, I met a little old man, Mr. Flannigan. He really was little - I don't think he was much over 5 feet tall. He had no teeth, unless he was taking his wife to dinner (then he put them in). He wore the same exact thing every time I saw him. He was dressed in a brown work suit - the kind mechanics wear. He had the fanciest metal detector I ever saw. This thing could find anything - and it did. He wore a gold lion ring that had emeralds or rubies for eyes and a big diamond in the mouth. He had all sorts of stuff like that.
He took a liking to me. He'd bring things up to the surface so I, trailing behind him, could find things. Often it was coins but once in a while it was jewelry. I suppose this is where my love of treasure hunting started. I would see him every summer into my early twenties. I clearly remember the conversation where I said he'd known me more than half my life. He was a fascinating old man.
He saw me through braces, my first job (at the Habitat), my first forray into my love of purple hair. We talked about and met each other's families. He was important to me.
Now, flash forward thirty years. A couple of years ago, Andrew got me a metal detector for my birthday. Not the radio shack version this time - a real one!! I have gone metal detecting a few times but not often. I don't get a chance to use it on a regular basis. But when I do get to go, I love it!
Last weekend, we went to Ocean City, MD. I needed a beach day. I needed to search for buried treasure. It didn't really occur to me that no people on the beach (it is winter, after all) would mean no buried treasure. I was out there for about an hour before the first beeps started. There were several beeps over the weekend. We left with a small haul of....stuff.
Around that time, I met a little old man, Mr. Flannigan. He really was little - I don't think he was much over 5 feet tall. He had no teeth, unless he was taking his wife to dinner (then he put them in). He wore the same exact thing every time I saw him. He was dressed in a brown work suit - the kind mechanics wear. He had the fanciest metal detector I ever saw. This thing could find anything - and it did. He wore a gold lion ring that had emeralds or rubies for eyes and a big diamond in the mouth. He had all sorts of stuff like that.
He took a liking to me. He'd bring things up to the surface so I, trailing behind him, could find things. Often it was coins but once in a while it was jewelry. I suppose this is where my love of treasure hunting started. I would see him every summer into my early twenties. I clearly remember the conversation where I said he'd known me more than half my life. He was a fascinating old man.
He saw me through braces, my first job (at the Habitat), my first forray into my love of purple hair. We talked about and met each other's families. He was important to me.
Now, flash forward thirty years. A couple of years ago, Andrew got me a metal detector for my birthday. Not the radio shack version this time - a real one!! I have gone metal detecting a few times but not often. I don't get a chance to use it on a regular basis. But when I do get to go, I love it!
Last weekend, we went to Ocean City, MD. I needed a beach day. I needed to search for buried treasure. It didn't really occur to me that no people on the beach (it is winter, after all) would mean no buried treasure. I was out there for about an hour before the first beeps started. There were several beeps over the weekend. We left with a small haul of....stuff.
We found a few bottle caps (found by Mikaela and me), a hook (that one took me by surprise), a rusty nail (that was pretty far down so I'm excited to know it can react to more than the first inch), a piece of wire and a disfigured penny (found by Andrew).
While I was waving the metal detector from side to side, I thought of Mr. Flannigan and how much fun I had with him. I hope he knew that.
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