Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Metal Detecting: The Changing Journey For One Person.
Life looks a lot different when you are 20 years old and looking ahead than it does at 70 something and looking back. Its not the same at all. I guess if you live in the moment or are totally consumed by daily struggles, you might not notice the difference, but otherwise you might come to see things entirely differently.
Not only do I see life differently, but also metal detecting. When I started, I had no idea what I might accomplish. I started trying to find pocket change - counting it at the end of each hunt and trying to find more the next time out. As I improved my skill level and finds, I started to focus on jewelry and better things. I counted gold rings instead of small change. I was still studying and trying to learn as much as I could and kept improving. During one period of about six months when I was between jobs, I proved to myself that I could find enough to make a living at it if I wanted to. I wanted to know what I could do. I wanted to prove something, mostly to myself. Now that matters very little.
When I moved to the Treasure Coast I started hunting more for shipwreck finds than modern jewelry even though I had done some of that before moving. I like historic stuff better anyhow. Unlike with modern jewelry finds, there is no living person that had to lose the item first.
Loved ones pass away. Heavy life and death situations are faced. And surprise, surprise, I got old.
Life doesn't look the same. It is just as amazing and marvelous - even more so. A lot of things were once taken for granted that are now appreciated and recognized as fleeting. Things that were once important, like education, degrees, career accomplishments, no longer matter. No body cares, and I almost never think of it. While those things once consumed a large part of life, they are now irrelevant to me except as distant memories.
As far as metal detecting, there were times when I was very competitive. And I'm not a competitive person by nature, but when I set a goal for myself, I can pursue it very intensely. I'm no longer competitive with my metal detecting at all. I don't see anyone else's success as affecting mine in any significant way. I always have a strategy, and a way to adjust or work around or use what anyone else might be doing.
I used to do things that I would not even consider doing today, such as water hunting in the ocean at night alone. Or working really rough or other dangerous conditions.
Just like in the rest of life, many of the things that once seemed very important to me in metal detecting, are no longer important to me at all. Finds that I would once drool over, no longer excite me. Some of those, as precious and hard to come by as they are, now seem sort of boring. But don't get me wrong. The fun and interest of the activity is not gone. It is still an activity that I very much enjoy. I still enjoy finds. But in a different way.
The finds I most like now are not necessarily valuable or the kind of things most sought by many people. I like little things. They don't have to be amazing or tremendously valuable. I appreciate the little pieces of history - pieces that require study and tell a story and still leave a little mystery. It could be something valuable, but if it was, I'd prefer a one-of-a-kind piece or something unusually rare. It would have a little mystery to it or help solve a mystery. It doesn't have to mean anything to anybody else. It only has to mean something to me.
My professional career involved research, teaching and consulting. I do that now, but as it relates to metal detecting.
Since I began this blog, I've communicated with a lot of people. A lot of peope read this blog, and some send emails. Some have helped me a lot. Fred Dengler, for example, always answered my every fossil related question. He was more than an always helpful expert: he is a great guy. and I proudly count him a friend. I haven't heard from him for a while and hope he is well. Fact is, I miss him. He provided expertise, but also something more. He freely gave of himself.
The thing that I have come to appreciate is the kind and generous people. Some contribute to this blog in some way. Some send encouraging comments, thank me for what I do and wish me well. Some have offered to financially compensate me for the benefit they get from the blog. I haven't accepted any contributions, but I appreciate the offer just as much or more than what might have been offered.
I have made friends through this blog that I never met. A very few I have met.
For me, the journey has changed. It is now less about the finds and much more about the search and the experiences I had along the way, and now, more than ever, about the fine people that I met.
I've met good people. They care about others and try to help others. They've been good to me. That has been my biggest reward for doing this blog - getting to know that there are so many good people out there in the world and getting to know some of them personally.
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Arcaheological investigations were conducted around Thomas Jefferson’s historic home and plantation in Bedford County.
At a tour on Saturday, Jack Gary, the director of archaeology, said that a new two-lane “Polar Forest Parkway” soon will be constructed to make the property more accessiblevia an extensive section of unused land.
To prepare for the road, Poplar Forest’s archaeologists excavated 4,000 small sites along its marked path . That way, they can ensure the road doesn’t obscure anything with potential historical import...
http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/bedford_county/archeology-at-poplar-forest-details-time-before-and-after-jefferson/article_13febf10-4fdc-57a6-b34a-5f9bc53dd995.html
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An Inca site was recently discovered in Peru.
Here is the link to that story.
http://www.andina.com.pe/Ingles/noticia-peru-inca-citadel-remains-found-in-cusco-686051.aspx
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Only one day remaining to respond to the blog poll. All responses are appreciated.
Ophelia is still a hurricane but is just a fish storm.
On the Treasure Coast today we have a little wind from the northeast, but the swells are still more easterly. The surf is around four to six feet.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
