I have found there's a delicate balance between effort & reward. Growing older, the balance shifts back & forth. On a good day the planets align ~ my old bones operate with less pain ~ my interest peaks ~ reward seems close at hand.
Last week I tried out my new knee. I had concerns whether it would support the weight & stress of another bottle quest. My surgeon assured me, as did my physical therapist, the knee would hold. The glue was good & the bones would knit around the repair. Still with some skepticism I put off the endeavor for several months. A stainless steel knee. What a time we live in.
I worked down a small levee area just past some large Cottonwood trees. In the past, at this location, I have been rewarded with a mix of treasure including an Italian Soda Water bottle from San Francisco in a vivid teal color ~ a bit of the graphite still remains in the pontil. That same quest produced a face pipe ~ “the Turk†& a four inch long obsidian knife. It seems that homo-sapiens have been tramping around this area for some time. So I went about the task of search & retrieval......
It had been a good three years since I last attacked this area. The trash layer was sporadic at best. It must have been those past quests when one tries to leave nothing behind. I do my best to leave an area better than I found it. No unfilled pits...no exposed shards of glass. My dad would be proud.
Soon I found a earthen ware bowl. This very shape I've seen throughout other delta dumps ~ unfortunately the other bowls have always been broken. Their graceful shape has always intrigued me. For twenty years I've seen broken shards & today I have a complete one! I continued ~ my new knee working just fine. The old ticker was beating as if I were a twenty year old. About thirty minutes later, I found a yellow cylinder fifth. My fingers wrapped around the bottle to find pronounced embossing: J.F.Cutter Bourbon (star & shield) ~ an early San Francisco applied top fifth. Admittedly, my heart beat just a bit faster.
I called home & let my sweetheart know everything was all right & I was heading home. She asked what I had found. I told her about the two treasures. She said “ you found something else ~ you found you can still do it.†Again nice....no wonder I keep her.
Below is a picture of the bowl & the bottle for your scrutiny. The Chinese bowl is twelve inches in diameter & stands six inches tall. It has an incised inside surface & a brown glaze about it's entirety ~ Chinese characters on the base.
Last week I tried out my new knee. I had concerns whether it would support the weight & stress of another bottle quest. My surgeon assured me, as did my physical therapist, the knee would hold. The glue was good & the bones would knit around the repair. Still with some skepticism I put off the endeavor for several months. A stainless steel knee. What a time we live in.
I worked down a small levee area just past some large Cottonwood trees. In the past, at this location, I have been rewarded with a mix of treasure including an Italian Soda Water bottle from San Francisco in a vivid teal color ~ a bit of the graphite still remains in the pontil. That same quest produced a face pipe ~ “the Turk†& a four inch long obsidian knife. It seems that homo-sapiens have been tramping around this area for some time. So I went about the task of search & retrieval......
It had been a good three years since I last attacked this area. The trash layer was sporadic at best. It must have been those past quests when one tries to leave nothing behind. I do my best to leave an area better than I found it. No unfilled pits...no exposed shards of glass. My dad would be proud.
Soon I found a earthen ware bowl. This very shape I've seen throughout other delta dumps ~ unfortunately the other bowls have always been broken. Their graceful shape has always intrigued me. For twenty years I've seen broken shards & today I have a complete one! I continued ~ my new knee working just fine. The old ticker was beating as if I were a twenty year old. About thirty minutes later, I found a yellow cylinder fifth. My fingers wrapped around the bottle to find pronounced embossing: J.F.Cutter Bourbon (star & shield) ~ an early San Francisco applied top fifth. Admittedly, my heart beat just a bit faster.
I called home & let my sweetheart know everything was all right & I was heading home. She asked what I had found. I told her about the two treasures. She said “ you found something else ~ you found you can still do it.†Again nice....no wonder I keep her.
Below is a picture of the bowl & the bottle for your scrutiny. The Chinese bowl is twelve inches in diameter & stands six inches tall. It has an incised inside surface & a brown glaze about it's entirety ~ Chinese characters on the base.
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