I received a call from a young husband and new father saying that his wife had recently lost her ring in their backyard.
I drove out to their lovely Craftsman-era rental in Berkeley after work and went to work. This young couple, tired in their new roles as parents, were distraught over the loss of the ring.
When looking for lost items like rings, it is important that I get all of the information before beginning my search. Where were you sitting/standing when it fell off? What were you doing? Where did you hear it land or bounce?

We all believed it was most likely under the porch and that when it flew off of her finger it hit the deck and slipped between boards. I spent several hours under the deck sweeping away leaves, clearing out wire, nails, and other metal odds and ends and yet I could not locate the ring.

It was getting dark so I offered to return on the next available day as they were heading out of town. The following Tuesday I was back out and determined to find it. On this second trip I knew I had to think outside the box. I sat on the porch where she had been sitting when she lost the ring, imitating her movements from that evening, and even spent a little while under the porch again, this time with her help. During the week between my visits the Meyer lemon trees in the planter at the end of the deck were trimmed back a bit making it easier for me to really get in there with minimal pokes and pricks from the thorny branches. The planter was rotting and there were many gaps for items to fall into so I concentrated on these areas. I was running out of options and I really hate not being able to successfully return an item that I am called out to find. Digging through rotted wood, leaves and the odd ping pong ball, I reached down and pulled out this beautiful gold ring.

In the end, it was less about having a metal detector, and more about perseverance. People often think it will take mere minutes to locate their lost items with a metal detector. Many people give up within the first 20 minutes and I have to encourage them to let me keep working. Sometimes they leave me, thinking they will never see their precious item again. But if the item is there, I will find it.