In a Rut

“Call Before You Dig” is the reminder to get the underground utilities marked before you dig. Calling 811 can prevent a call to 911 by having someone come out to mark public underground utilities. This prevents damaging the utility lines and killing yourself in the process. However, it only works for lines buried by public facilities. Most lines buried for private use are not going to be located by a call to 811. So you still have to be careful and give some thought to where you are digging. I found out the easy way – which is usually better than the hard way.

I’m doing some digging around my house and the locaters came and painted the yard some nice colors with an encrypted message. I wondered why a gas line I knew was buried in the area was not marked, so I called the friendly folks at Gopher State One Call (811) to find out why.

According to the website (and the man on the other end of the call) privately installed gas lines, invisible fencing, electricity run to an outbuilding and sprinkler systems may not get marked by the locaters.

Several years ago we extended the gas line from the meter to power a piece of equipment. Even though the installation was professionally done, the fact that it was done privately and not by the utility company deems it outside the scope of the locaters.

It turns out I could have called the company that buried the gas line, and they would have located (possibly for a fee, whereas the 811 call is a free service). It was suggested that I get my hands on a metal detector to try and pinpoint the buried line. I immediately warmed to the idea – a man has to have the right tool for the job.

I found the buried gas line and marked it with some white paint from a spray-can. Not exactly by the book, but it got the job done. Soon my son, son-in-law and I began to turn the ground over. During our brief archeological expedition we found a cookie cutter, a key, three-fourths of a horseshoe for one-fourth of a horse, some metal milk bottle tops, various wires, springs, brackets and other miscellaneous metal that could not be identified. Indeed, we were digging up the past.

Occasionally, the shovel was rested and leaned on to examine the booty. Searching for metal reminded me of water witching (also known as dowsing or divining), except a metal detector has batteries and it’s looking for metal not water.  The detector drew some members of our digging party away from the original site, which is where most of the buried treasure was found.

There’s nothing glamorous about pushing a shovel into the ground, but it’s honest, hard work – often even necessary. It’s satisfying in that the evidence of the labor is right there in front of you; all are humbled as they bend to the matter at hand. We never dug far enough to reach China or rival the depth of the Mariana trench, but we did get our hands dirty. After a while the long-handled shovel was replaced with a garden trowel for more precise excavation and less scarring of the earth.

Before you start your own treasure hunt I caution you to think about what lies underground before you dig. As they used to say – “Can you dig it?” I don’t know, but you better call and find out first.