HOLLY BEACH

#154 - Johnnie served up burgers and sourdough buns on paper plates and pointing to a small side table at the ketchup and mustard, said smiling, “There’s the vegetables.”

James Ron

May 25, 2026

Welcome to Before I Forget . .

I’m glad you are here. Thank you for your time.

HOLLY BEACH

They stood around the grill with ‘Pearl,’ the Catahoula two-year old, underfoot in rapt attention, nose high, and licking her lips as the burgers cooked.

Johnnie’s site was the corner eighth acre lot on the last street before the beach in what was once the community of Holly Beach.

The road ran half a mile west. The crossroads went less than a quarter mile north to the highway. All these lots used to have houses on them.

There are four streets remaining, the sea and storms having taken at least two more in recent decades.

Just yards beyond the road is the beach.

Johnnie’s van and trailer were parked on what was once a house’s foundation. On the trailer, a side by side, an electric bike, and a storage box.

The concrete three step stairs, still firmly attached at the front foundation, now serves as a bench or table.

The toilet, minus its tank, stood by itself, anchored in the corner at the rear, as it were.

“A few weekenders come down once in a while. They won’t rebuild again,” Johnnie said.

“Well, you can’t just camp here on someone’s property. You have permission or you paying rent,” asked Sammy?

“Oh, hell no. It’s mine.”

“You bought it!? Why? It’s going underwater, could be sooner rather than later.”

“Yes, that’s true. I got it dirt cheap. Fellow was glad to get it off his hands.

“I have most of this end to myself, no neighbors. It’s great. Up against the marsh. It’s a bit lower than the west end and the first to flood. King Tides come up onto my lot. Only a fool would buy it. I like it.”

Johnnie smiled. “When I’m gone for good, I’ll have someone bring my ashes down here and spread ‘em out. In time, the ocean will take me away. I think that’d be cool.”

“You’re something else, Johnnie,” said Sammy, shaking his head.

“Well, I’ve heard that before.”

Dan said, “I bet it’s cold here in winter, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Damp, windy, wet. Tidal water puddles freeze over at times. I’m okay in the van. The cold doesn’t last long.

”I went to the Caballo Loco Ranch near Tucson for a while last winter. Probably do the same this year. It’s real nice.”

Dan’s eye caught the glint of a rock shining in the sun over on the step table.

Walking over to the fist sized rock and looking hard, said, “Is that gold?”

“Sure is. I found that up near Allegheny in California. White quartz embedded with eight ounces of gold. Go ahead, pick it up. Heavy, right?”

“Much heavier than I would have thought.” Dan looked at Sammy with a ‘Wow!’ on his face as he handed the gold laden white rock to him.

“About 35k worth right there. That’s about a third of the original rock. I broke a couple pieces off. A friend cut it into thin slices and the translucent quartz with the gold all spread spidery within make for great jewelry and specimen pieces. Worth more. I did alright on that one for sure.”

“Sammy asked, “You don’t leave it out, right?”

‘Oh, hell no. Just reminds me of good times, is all. I like to see the sun on it.”

Johnnie served up burgers and sourdough buns on paper plates and pointing to a small side table at the ketchup and mustard, said smiling, “There’s the vegetables.”

Pearl, satisfied for the moment with her take of the hamburger, was down on the beach chasing the gulls and terns.

Dan ran down to the water for a boat check. Johnnie got out his detector to show them how it worked.

On coming back, Dan said, “Too bad there’s no gold around here.”

“Oh, but there is. It’s not native gold in the ground.

“It’s treasure.

“Jewelry. Gold, silver, diamonds, and money safes from storm damage spread out over the landscape. Keys, rings, necklaces.

“Jean Lafitte used to hangout around here. Up on Lake Charles. He’s supposed to have buried caches of his plundering’s in a few places up and down the bayous.

“There are Civil War artifacts. Coins, buttons, belt buckles, boots, uniforms, guns, Minie ball bullets. There are several skirmish sites around here.

“I’ve found stuff. Buttons, Minie balls. People collect that stuff and pay good money. Me and Ronnie go often. Sam, you know him? Ronnie Greyson?

“Ronnie? Sure. That’s Bill’s boy. He’s up at Calcasieu Point now. He’s back from the Army. Was a Ranger.”

“Yeah, that’s him alright.

“You wanna go detecting sometime? We can use more ears on the ground. We have detectors you can use.”

“Ears?”

“Yeah, we can work more ground teaming up. And canvassing a small area at a time is better than just going at it willy-nilly hit and miss. However, you can’t be too close to each other. The machines go wonky if two detectors are too near each other.

“We need permits and land-owner permission. There are a lot of restrictions regarding public land.”

Dan jumped at the offer. “I’m in, how about you, Dad?”

“It sounds like fun. I’ll give it a go.”

“Very cool! It’s easy to do,” Johnnie replied.

“How do those detectors work,” Dan asked?

“There’s a learning process. You have to train your ears to the sounds the detector gives off.

“At the least, you are outside and getting some exercise. Can’t lose.

“Next time we get a lead on a place I’ll call you. What’s your numbers?”

Johnnie was inputting their contact info into his cell, when it rang. He answered.

“Ronnie! Speak of the devil. We were just talking about you. How’s it going?”

Ronnie said, “I’m ok. I have a place for us to detect. Let’s meet up next Saturday at 9 am at the Coushatta Casino. I know the owner of a place just west of there on the Whiskey Chitto. He is in management at the casino. We have the weekend. He has comped us rooms at the hotel.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. Hey, I have a couple friends who might want to come up. You know Sam Reeves? His son, Dan?”

“Yes, I know ‘em. That’s good. The more ears the better.

“Same arrangement. Fifty percent of findings to owner, we get fifty.”

“Sounds good, I’ll be there for sure. Later.”

Johnnie said, “You guys want to go? You know the casino up in Kinder, right?”

“I’ll go,” Dan said.

Sam, smiling, said, “I’ll have to ask Dan’s mother. I think I can swing it.”

A breeze wafted through, and they looked up at the sky and out to sea.

High thin clouds feathered in from the west, clouds piled up on the southern horizon and the breeze took the calm off the swells.

It was time to go.

They walked down to the boat. Dan tossed a piece of driftwood for Pearl to chase after, unloosed the anchor, and hopped in, then helped his dad in.

Johnnie lifted the bow and pushed them off the beach and Dan started the motor.

Waving farewells, Johnnie called out. “See you at Coushatta.”

part 3 next time.