Cellar Holes 

or Swimming Holes?
By Kenneth Maston  
   It was 3.30 in the afternoon and my 10 year old son (we’ll can him “the boy”) hasn’t figured out yet that his vision is more important than to hitting level 7 on X-Box. “The boy” wonders around the house in a state of mild discontent. I thought this might be an opportunity to take him on one of the old mans treasure hunting safaris. After robbing all the half used batteries out the toys under his bed we had enough juice to fire up his detector. Kids and batteries are like wives and credit cards. You figure out the similarity. 
  An hour later we are walking down the trail to dads secret 18th century settlement. A tad muggy this afternoon with horse flies resembling army choppers. No problem, we bath our selves in chemical warfare and continue on our journey. The first cellar hole we begin to work is thick in overgrowth and “the boy” looks at me with a look of “are we done yet”. I knew I could loose this boy to Microsoft at any point. I decided to lighten up a bit and remember that this is supposed to be fun. We work our way to an easier place and catch up on the current elephant jokes school yard gossip.
  All in all, we net a couple of Indian heads, relics of a kerosene lantern, pottery fragments and a horse shoe ready for mounting. Quality time with “the boy” seems to be the exception rather than the norm lately. I am only glad that I can have the opportunity to spend a small part of his adolescence as a positive role model. I think treasure hunting helps fit the bill.
   One of the advantages to hunting on land is that the preparation can be as easy as grabbing your machine and going. Underwater hunting brings a great deal more preparation, time and planning. Preparing you underwater gear, air fills, boats and fuel are all part. Dive equipment cleaning and breaking down are also something needing consideration when hunting under the waves. Seems like every time I plan on getting out for a quick dive I end up making it into a trip requiring more planning than a Everest ascent.
   Not to worry. Even with all things considered, diving has been my passion and is still one of my favorite past times.  Spending the weekends with my family at Lake Winnipesauke has been our tradition for the past several years. When I first started to weekend there I found myself soon board with the bland fresh water scenery and aquatic life. Don’t miss understand , as fresh water puddles go Winni is top shelf. Taking my detector to the water seemed like the obvious next step. Since that decision I have become almost obsessed. Fortunately, I have been blessed with the opportunity to recover Gold rings, silver coins and maritime artifacts over the past few seasons. The peace, solitude and self contentment you feel detecting underwater are something that you have to experience to understand. Fighting mesquites, thick brush, pull tables and park rangers are all things I think I will choose as a second choice rather than a first. Give me 35 degree water, zero visibility and the opportunity to loose a finger in the claws of a ten pound lobster any day. This guys going diving.