Well, what can I say? Yes, and in such an isolated matter as surf searching, this nasty epidemic was also able to make its own adjustments. However, according to my personal observations, the behavior of diggers in the first year was completely different than in the summer of last year. Although, let's talk about everything in order.
When self-isolation was announced for the first time in our country, in March of the year before last, I, unlike most city residents, met this news, so to speak, in the process of actively digging one wonderful forest village. The hunt was canceled that spring and that’s why the forest was quiet and even somehow eerie. Although, our places are remote, which is why some individuals hunted on the sly. These same personalities helped me well; when I once again came to the forest clearing where there was a village, I was happy to see that the grass there had burned down two days ago.
I was happy, and let’s dig in that place, as if no one had ever dug there before that moment. That day I found a small bag of scales and while he was digging for it, a huntsman came out to me. We stood around and talked, and I saw the huntsman look at me sideways and ask, “Aren’t you, dear man, burning the grass here?” So, what can I answer in this situation? People (gamekeepers), they are experienced, have caught diggers five times in recent years, burning the grass like this, in the place they needed. Well, what’s the point, the fine for this case is 3 thousand rubles, and you also need to prove that it’s them. No, a video or a sincere confession, that’s it, the investigator won’t even open a case.
I honestly said that you need to look here for a UAZ of a certain color that hunts ducks right from the car windows. The huntsman listened. Then he himself admitted that they were the ones they thought of from the very beginning. They say they could have burned the grass on purpose to drive the animal out of the forest in the right direction. With that, we parted ways amicably. True, this year I had to seriously discuss this topic with the head of the huntsman service. But that's a completely different story.
After the March self-isolation, we declared big May holidays. This is where the plowed fields trembled due to the invasion of all those who, at that time, had a metal detector and at least a small rickety house in the village. At least…
What did it look like? Our fields have been plowed for the spring sowing of spring crops. As we know, not all fields are equally good in terms of finds. Because of this, I immediately rushed to the best I knew. Where before it was very good. I'm coming. I see two more diggers walking around the field besides me. And God be with them. I start digging, and then within an hour one car after another starts driving up to the field and the numbers are all in the capital region.
I’m gradually starting to feel like I’m in the capital’s park of culture and recreation. Here is a married couple, husband and wife, here are two separate diggers in different corners of the field walking their dogs. There is a girl with a metal detector, waving it like a golf club, a young guy came on a bicycle, some children came running for three, one Goofing and a bayonet shovel, they were picking at something by the road. And we must not forget about the professional diggers, who, just like me, when they arrive at the field, look around in surprise, “Yes, where are so many of you from here???”
During those two weeks, I didn’t have the opportunity to make any acquaintances. Now I have a 50% discount on the services of one very expensive metropolitan dentist. True, his prices are such that even for half the price he can fix one tooth, I will have to sell the car. I met the best watchmaker in our field. I then made inquiries, they told me that all respected people, both from the authorities and from crime, actually repair the man’s watch.
And there was another story: they called me from an unfamiliar number and asked if I could teach a novice digger how to use a metal detector for a reasonable fee. I tensed up to see if this was a provocation, and then agreed. Two thousand rubles are not lying around on the road. At the appointed hour, a white Kruzak arrived at the house, there a man and his wife met, they turned out to be the same capital “refugees” for self-isolation. We drove to the field and showed how ICQ turns on and off. It turned out that the device was left behind after the death of his father-in-law and lay in the barn for six years as unnecessary. And, here, in the second month of self-isolation, people, in order not to go completely crazy from boredom and melancholy, living in their old grandfather’s house, decided to try themselves in a new hobby. I liked the hobby. And then, we often crossed paths with this man in different fields in our district.
And this was the case for almost the entire summer of 2020. 15-20 diggers per day on one plowed field. Not life but grief. The field was trampled down like a beach in Kazantip. And, if somewhere, by someone there was at least one coin – that’s it, every centimeter was combed out nearby.
But, thank God, last year in the summer, everything returned to normal again. What kind of self-isolation is there? Yes, and you can fly abroad. Which is why the field, plowed all summer for fallow, was useless to anyone. So, maybe someone will pass by, look in, run and then run errands…
