Paying It Forward

[Condor]

It is perhaps fortuitous that it is the Christmas Season when I am compelled to remind us of the nature of friendship and fellowship in the field.  As it happens, today I was just starting my morning prospecting in a new area here in Yuma by the Sea.  I could see another truck perhaps 1/4 mile across the canyon, but given the nature of topography in the desert mountains, you can't get there from here.  Nevertheless, they drive down a steep 4x4 canyon and come over to say hello.  We get to talking, fellow Zed travelers as it were, and the seasoned prospector invites me over to a spot he has found many ounces of gold in the past.  I follow them and am acquainted with an area the size of a basketball court with dig holes everywhere.  This fellow prospector suggests, that despite all the dig holes, the Zed will still find gold on this little plateau.  We start detecting and to cut a long day short we find gold.  It is only at lunchtime that I learn that his camping/prospecting partner is a total newby and is only along for the experience.  As it turns out, he is a neighbor of my prospecting guide, who is fresh out of treatment for Stage 4 liver cancer.  He is merely out for 3 days of camping and fresh air.  

So, a fellow prospector takes me in and shows me where to find gold, and is simultaneously showing a neighbor whose time on this earth is well nigh near, the wonders of desert sunsets and starlit nights.   There is a lesson here my friends and you needn't be driven by bronze age fairy tales or supernatural surveillance to act honorably and ethically in this world. 

I spent a professional lifetime selling prison sentences to society's misfits who desperately needed them.  It is catharic to find these beacons of moral and ethical courage on a little desolate ridge in the far reaches of the desert southwest. 

Pay it forward my friends, it costs very little in the end. 

 

Oh, and the gold.

 

[gambler]

well said sir.

[strick]

Prospectors are some of the nicest people I have come across. Willing to help others seems to come natural to them. Every Day is precious and I could not think of a better way to spend them then being out in the wilds looking for that elusive nugget. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

strick

[spencer@wy]

Great story and a great philosophy.

An insipiration and example to us all. Thanks for posting.

the gold is nice too.

[Relichunter]

Nice story Condor,

 

Despite the gloom and doom and endless sad stories on the news about people doing the wrong things to each other, I believe the majority of the people are good. Thanks for sharing your experience and pass it forward.

[Condor]

I think it's easy to forget that at the end of the day it's the journey that matters, not the size of your poke, the worth of your truck or your kid's prowess on the soccer field.  This forum is dedicated to the friendly exchange of ideas about our hobby/pastime.  Let's just remember that as we start a new year that the size of our poke is a personal achievement, but not at the expense of our humanity and good will to others.  

People might say, "Condor, have your lost your friggin mind and gone Buddhist, we're all about finding gold here".   That's true, but today's experience reinforces personal beliefs whose priority may have been temporarily misplaced. 

I've been helped my many people on this forum, Steve H, Rob A, Nevada Chris, to name a few.  There was never a toll for their friendship and assistance.  Let's just remember to pass it on to others. 

[californiagold]

Good story. I wish everyone in America could be like that everyday.

[deathray]

Fantastic!

[Azavsfan]

I have to say that Condor is a great writer but he also practices what he preaches. If not for running into him while out and about in the desert of "Yuma by the sea", we wouldn't have got our (Dad and myself) SDC units. We've been out several times with Condor since that first meeting and I am really glad that we waited for the owner of the prospecting truck we found in the middle of nowhere earlier this year to get back from his walk-about. I'm equally glad that we met before he got his GPZ or we probably would've got those instead. A little kindness goes a long way and who knows, you may end up with a friend or friends in the process.

[indianbullet]

Thanks for sharing. Its nice to be reminded that we need to enjoy every sandwich, and the folks that are put in our path. We only pass this way once.