Saturday, March 15, 2014

Treasure Hunting



While it's no secret that I've always wanted to be a pirate, it's no wonder that treasure hunting comes naturally to me.  Unfortunately, I've discovered that I'm not very good at it.  We've been through several metal detectors and they all broke long before I ever got the chance to dig for buried treasure.  My $400 investment turned up a bottle cap and a snake that was sleeping under a pile of leaves.  When my youngest child reached down to pick up the silvery object, screams ensued and the detector was thrown to the ground.  That was the beginning and the end of looking for hidden treasure in the back yard.

With the introduction of the digital age, I turned to Internet auction sites to mine for goods. There's no fear of reaching down and grabbing a snake, although I have discovered that snakes do exist online, offering their counterfeit wares and freshly printed certificates of authenticity.  My parents' words ring in my head, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is."  I use this as a guide as I sit on the couch surfing for treasure.

It took only $10 to realize that close-up photos don't actually reflect the true size of an item.  In pirate fashion, I bought three silver bars that looked to be quite large.  When my package of silver arrived, my concern was raised by the size of the tiny envelope.  I had to shake the package to get the contents and discovered three tiny pieces of precious metal almost too small to see.  My silver dreams went up in smoke and I hid my new found treasure at the back of the "End of Days" Cabinet.  I'm sure that one day they will be confused as dust and will be swept away along with some dried up seeds and a guide to canning.

I turned my sights to jewelry, as what female pirate doesn't love gold and jewels.  There are obviously many other treasure hunters out there as anything with any value is terribly expensive and caught up in bidding wars. Tiny words like "design" or "replica" are tucked in the fine print separating the junk jewelry from the real treasures.  I enjoy looking at the vintage pieces with messages of love inscribed on them and wonder what happened to the people who once treasured the item in their possession.   There are hundreds of platinum wedding rings and engagement rings from the 1800s and it's sad to me that they weren't passed on to children who wanted them.

I had to wonder what treasure I would pass on to my children and I realized that I have no message of love inscribed in my jewelry and my silver drawer is basically empty.   And then I realized, they will have my stories of their childhood.  They can't be bought or sold on an Internet auction and no sleeping snake will hide them from reach.  They are here for the taking and I hope that one day my future pirate children will be mining for good things and find their treasure here.


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