Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Want to know what to do next weekend? If you want to have a blast, try the Treasure Coast Archaeological Society Club hunt on March 8 in Wabasso.
DeSoto landed on the west coast of Florida in 1539 having never experienced much other than success before that. He was rich and famous and ready for a new conquest, but after three years in Florida he died after losing his entire fortune and reputation.
He landed on what would become the Sunshine State with nine ships and six hundred men. What remained of DeSoto's possessions when he died 77 years before the Mayflower landed was two slaves, three horses, and seven hundred pigs. The pigs were auctioned to the few survivors of the expedition who promised to pay with the gold they would find in Florida.
Not too long ago I awoke one morning to find my yard and my neighbor's yards randomly plowed up. The villain, feral hogs.
One newspaper headline read, 500,000 Feral Hogs Causing Problems in Florida. After 500 years in the wild the feral hogs have migrated into at least 35 states and as far north as Canada.
I'm now of the stage of life when many of my old friends are gone, and of course my grandparents and one of my parents, and many of the people that I've known along the way have also departed. Many departed young and well before their time. But one of the things that you can't appreciate until you reach that time of life is the parade of generations that steps onto and then after a short time depart the stage of history.
For those of you who like to find old things, let me suggest that it is more about the people than the things. You might get a lot more out of an old find if you stop and think how it got there, who it was that used it, what they did, and even how they might have affected you. Let your imagination run. It might be more accurate than you think.
I never would have guessed how DeSoto might have affected my front yard in the 21st Century. And we don't usually think about how a small thoughtless word or deed might have some unintended consequence on someone somewhere today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year or even centuries later.
We do many things intending to have some direct demonstrable impace, maybe on our children, spouse friend or neighbor, often without any apparent result. It might be the unintended consequences though, that range far and wide, spreading an unrecognized or unknown effect far greater than anything we ever imagined. It might be any of our little unconsidered words or deeds that turns out to be unimaginably important.
A unique titanium polka dot wedding band was lost on a Florida beach and found and returned nine months later. Here is the link for the video and article.
http://www.wptv.com/news/state/les-grigsby-gets-unique-titanium-wedding-ring-back-9-months-after-losing-it-at-venice-beach
Thanks to Jorge Y. for submitting the link.
As news of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine spread Friday the price of precious metals dropped. I was surprised that the value of the dollar also dropped Friday. However, both the price of precious metals and the Dow Jones Industrial Average began to trend up at the end of the trading day. It is hard to figure out, but I'd be surprised if gold didn't increase in price as the result of the conflict, but I often don't get it right.
On the Treasure Coast the tides are getting pretty big. You'll see some nice low tides and high high tides.
For Monday, up to a five foot surf is predicted. That isn't near the nine foot surf that was predicted earlier but might do a little cutting. The tides might help, but I'm not too hopeful because the wind is expected to be a little from the west by then and the surf will not quite be in the range of what usually does the job for us.
People sometimes ask me how they can support the blog. The only thing that I suggest is spreading the word and send in photo and reports, links, finds, interests, comments and questions.
I still remember when I posted some of my first posts. I didn't expect more than a half dozen readers but was surprised by how quickly people found the blog and became involved. I don't do anything to publicize the blog myself, so it must be due to readers spreading the word.
If you haven't noticed the hit counter shows well over 700,000 hits now.
It makes it much easier for me to do this blog when I hear from readers.
Thanks to all who contribute.
Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net