I've got the winter blues. Officially. I'm staring out my window as more white stuff falls from the sky. Granted, Pennsylvania winters are mild compared to what I was used to in New England--I guess we could be getting three feet instead of a mere six inches... but I'm bitter just the same. I had grand aspirations for this week. I wanted to get out there and hit my permissions. It's supposed to be March, after all. The earth is supposed to be thawing but between the snow and freezing rain this week, I've been a complete wreck of a shut-in--with my five dogs and two kids. I guess it could be worse......

Despite what you would gather from reading my blog posts, I have only been metal detecting for a short while. Before that, you could find me scrounging around in old bottle dumps and hunting yard-sales for cheap treasures that struck my fancy. I am a treasure hunter at heart and I suppose that taking up a metal detector was just the next logical step. I look at metal detecting as my way of connecting with the past. I think everyone has a different motive for metal detecting. Some metal detect to keep busy, others to stay active, a handful to get rich, and the rest to discover something that...

The metal detecting hobby has introduced me to so many fascinating people. A few weeks ago, I shared a blog post on one of the many metal detecting groups on Facebook. Shortly thereafter, my laptop started buzzing with notifications. The messages were from a Howard Hewitt. Some of you may recognize his name from the relic recovery circuit or even from Travel Channel's DigFellas. I'll admit. Up until this point, I'd never heard of Howard Hewitt or DigFellas. There was just something about the way that other group members responded to his comments that gave me the inclination to look...