Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Finds by Christopher N. |
I received the above photo and following email from Christopher N. yesterday.
Today I worked many areas of the beach here in St Augustine.
I target low level areas of beach and hit those in between spots normally not hunted as thoroughly as the most likely produced spots.
The rings are not all that great in the sense of quality jewelry but focusing on tide tiny low spots can have its benefits.
By no means I’m bragging but Time, Patience, and reading the beach helps.
When the conditions are really good as in the form of good wave action and erosion I know from being out there those elusive items will be had for the taking.
I give a lot of my success to Mr. Terry Shannon for mentioning me since I’ve know him the great friend he is as many of the other guys along the Treasure Coast - and your blog which is invaluable to detecting.
Thank you
Chris N.
Thanks Chris.
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| Finds by Al C. |
I posted views of these finds before, but the bronze spike has been cleaned and the other spike was not shown from this view. Al is wondering about these spikes and their age. If you have any opinions about them, please let me know.
Below is another view of the round head spike.
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| Spike Found by Al C. |
And below are more of Al's finds. He said he found tons of copper.
 Copper and Fossil Bone Found by Al C. |
Send me any info or opinions you might have about any of these.
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| Yankee Jumper. Some Call Them Jack Jumpers. Source: NWITimes. |
Do you know the best time to be young? It is when you are old.
You might not know what I mean by that, so I hope you'll pardon me if I take a few minutes to unravel it.
Last night I dreamed of doing something I haven't done for a long time. I went sledding. Well, it actually wasn't sledding. Instead of a sled, I preferred what I and the other neighborhood kids always called a Yankee Jumper.
I know that a lot of you don't have any idea what a Yankee Jumper is, so I posted the picture above, which is very much like the one I had except mine was red.
I don't have a picture of mine, but after some searching, found the one shown above on the internet. People neglect to take photos of some of the most important things in life.
The boys in my neighborhood, and occasionally a girl or two, used those instead of sleds. They are much better than sleds - more maneuverable and capable of surviving bone jarring jumps.
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| Me And Two Other Kids That Used Yankee Jumpers Two of the Three, Eddy and Loretta, Are Now Deceased. |
Last night, about 4 AM - it must have been - I revisited that poor rural kingdom of simple pleasures.
I climbed the snow covered hill in the chill grey evening protected from the wind and single-digit temperatures by two or three pairs of pants with the cuffs stuffed tightly into boots to prevent snow from getting in, a flannel shirt covered by a bulky sweater and coat, gloves, a knit scarf protecting the neck and lower part of the face, and a knit hat pulled down over the ears and forehead so only two eyes and a red nose betrayed the presence of a fleshly being inside.
Drudging up the hill - no quick walk, I might add - through a half foot or so of snow was pure anticipation. Every trip packed the snow until the path became ice, making the next trip down even faster and more exciting.
Finally at the top of the hill, you could look out over the hills and valley and survey the intended path before getting on the Yankee Jumper and taking a firm hold on both sides of the seat, then pushing off. Gaining speed down the hillside, and then a short flat area before the next speed-gaining slope, then curve to the left and around the bushes and under and through the trees, and then another steep drop off that took you through grandmas front year, then a tight turn to the right and across the bottom of her driveway and onto Jolly School Road, and down the road eventually to the bottom of the valley, where there was a few seconds to enjoy the accomplished trip before returning to the top of the hill to do it all again.
In the darkness of the night when I awoke, I recalled all of that, smiled for the longest time and pitied the city kids, rich kids, flatlanders and warm weather kids that never rode a Yankee Jumper over the snow covered hills.
I enjoyed my night time visit.
It is a joy to be young when you are old.
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That took me on a journey to a different time and place, but it was so much on my mind that I just had to put it down, and for me it is certainly about a very precious kind of treasure.
I couldn't find much information about Yankee Jumpers on the internet, perhaps because there was another name for them. It seems they were also called Jack Jumpers. I finally did find one article in the New England Today magazine that gives some of the history. Here is an excerpt.
... In the pre-chairlift, pre-snowboard 1800s—an era of rolled rather than plowed roads, horse-drawn sleighs, and what must have felt like interminable gray months—Vermont farmers cobbled together snow-sliding devices for their kids that used a barrel stave as a runner, and a wooden bench on a short post as a seat. Legend has it that loggers also used rudimentary jack jumpers to move efficiently through the woods while sawing. And though I have no evidence on this front, there’s certainly a family resemblance between jack jumping and the European sport called skibock. As with many great folkways, the origins of jack jumping are uncertain, and it is this uncertainty—this power of a history bigger and deeper than any individual person or place—that I consider so enlivening...
And for those few of you that might be interested, here is the link.
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Back to the sand, palm trees and the Treasure Coast - no change in beach conditions real soon.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net