lost rings are found in the area with the most activity. Certainly, the building of the snowman took more effort than the other activities. No luck!
So, I began a grid pattern. Up and down, across the open space. 6 feet paths, back and forth. Making sure to overlap both the swing of my coil and the median between my journey east and back to the west. Wow, a lot of metal in the ground. I could hear bottle caps, coins, pull tabs and sprinkler heads. This open space was obviously a well-used, grassy area during the warm summer months. This winter night however, the ground under the snow was frozen solid. It was easy to sweep the snow away and re-swing the area to see if the target was still there. If it was, it meant is was buried in the frozen earth and not the target we were looking for. Our target would be in the soft snow, or lying on top of the frozen ground.
Back and forth. 6 foot swaths. Up, down and up again. The temperature was dropping and my hands were starting to tingle even though I was using gloves. Back to the east, then the west again, making sure to overlap swings. Brushing snow away intermittently to check a target here and there. I was covering and area the size of a small soccer field.
Thud – goes my detector. Thud, thud, thud. Gold makes a significant sound. Not a high-pitched ring or chime like you’d expect…that’s silver or aluminum. It a thud. A somewhat dull mid-tone, but heavy.
Yes, there it is, again, again. Thud, thud, thud. I didn’t have to sweep this time. In fact, I didn’t want to sweep and risk damaging the ring. I bent down with my pin pointer and quickly located the source, excitedly. With the other had a plunged for a handful of snow and checked it with my pin pointer…yes, it was in my hand now.
Quickly crumbling the snow in my hand let most of the lose snow fall between my fingers and revealed a beautiful, ice-encrusted white gold pave ring with beautiful center stone. As I handed it back to Emily she was speechless, giddy and questioning – all at the same time…it was a stutter in disbelieve, “Did you, is that….REALLY!!!! Oh my.”
It’s always fun to return a lost item to the owner – especially something with as much sentimental value as a wedding ring. They are always hugely appreciative, often having given up hope of ever seeing it again. Often, I’m certain, I’m as excited as they are.
The trip home in on the snow-hazard roadways was uneventful. I nice leisurely drive, unlike the initial rush to beat the elements. Time to decompress, warm my hand and be thankful that another item of significant, and intrinsic value was not lost forever.