Tuesday, October 27, 2015

10/27/5 Report - New Poll. Dynamics of Pebble Covered Beaches. Detecting The Past. Why Today Is The Day.


Written by the Treasure Guide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

I added a poll to the blog.  It might be worded a little awkwardly, but there are reasons for that.

Try to answer to the best of your ability.  This poll should only be answered by those that detected Treasure Coast beaches during the last half of October.

Thanks for your participation.  It is always good to get a realistic estimate of what was found, and therefore an idea of what you can expect during conditions such as those we recently had.

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Here is a great illustration.  I lost the link, and I think the web site changed.  It used to be something like www.seafriends.org.nz, but I can't find the source web site now.



That illustrates a lot of different things that I talk about from time to time, such a the different trigger points of different objects, the importance of the shape of objects, etc.

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If you talk to detectorists, many will tell you that one thing they like is touching history.  Another thing you will often hear is something like, "Just think. I was the first person to touch that item in three hundred years."

I think those two statements express slightly different sentiments.  "Touching history" emphasizes the time element more, while the "first person to touch x" statement is more about personal uniqueness. It emphasizes the person being "first."

The two statements are not necessarily mutually exclusive.  Neither are the sentiments mutually exclusive. The person who makes an old find might simultaneously feel both of those sentiments but just express one.  They might feel connected to history and the personal uniqueness of the moment.  I'm sure there are other times when the choice of one of those statements actually indicates the most significant sentiment for that person.

There are definitely detectorists who prefer to find old rusty items more than more valuable modern items.  The two reasons given above are among the most common,

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Today is the day!  You've heard it, and it is true.

If you live to be a hundred years old, that would be about 36,500 days.  That sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  The problem is that if you are fifty, you've already used about 18,250 of those days.  And if you only live to 80 instead of a hundred (still a lofty goal), knock off another 10,300 days.  Now you,re down to around 8000.

A lot of people don't want to think about the passing of time and how short life really is.  Maybe that is the best way to go, but for me looking at it numerically is a bit of a reality check.  It makes it clear how finite life (or should I say a "lifetime") is, and how precious every day is.  Knowing that it is so short and precious, make the best of each and every day and each and every moment.

How do you make the best of it?  You'll have to determine that for yourself, but it might be worth thinking about.

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The TV news is going on and on about the Super Moon.  The water will be a little higher, but I'm not expecting that to help beach detecting conditions much.  The surf is only predicted to run around 2 or 3 feet and the wind will be out of the southeast.

I did see a lot of plastic junk on one beach at the high tide mark yesterday.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net