2/10/25 Report - Civil War Prison Site Gives Up Artifacts. Super Bowl as a Metaphor, Winning and Metal Detecting.

 Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

SALISBURY — Taken individually, the glassware, shards of ceramics, construction materials, cut nails, bones from food remnants and general hardware might not be impressive.  But knowing they came from an area where the Salisbury Confederate Prison once stood piques the interest of any historian or archaeologist.  “We didn’t find much, but we did confirm there was more left to find,” Timothy Roberts said Thursday night to an audience wanting to hear about “ground-truthing excavations” done last November on a Historic Salisbury Foundation lot at 313 E. Bank St.  In essence, the digging by Cultural Resources Analysts of Richmond, Virginia, substantiated what ground-penetrating radar had shown in 2016 — that the back of the lot probably was part of a portico to a cotton mill that served as barracks for the prison...

Here is the link for more about that.

'Ground-truthing excavations' give supporting evidence of Confederate Prison's location - Salisbury Post | Salisbury Post

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We won!

That was what one team could say, but untold numbers of Philadelphia fans around the country said the same thing in the aftermath of the big game.

It is the feeling experienced by detectorists when they finally see that treasure, they always dreamed of actually in their hands.  It isn't as public an event, but the feeling is similar.

But what does it mean to win?  What actually causes the elation?  How did you get there?

Of course, it doesn't happen all the time.  You can't win all the time.  And that is what makes it special.

There are times when you lose.  And you can't completely control it.  There are things you cannot control at all.  But you can learn from that.

Count yourself lucky.  Count yourself a big winner if you were born with all your limbs, parents that love you and take care of you. and that you are able to gather your wits and regularly obtain your daily meals.  

There are always those who have more and always those who have less - much less.  It might be partly because of good or bad decisions, or it might be out of your control,  How much you actually control isn't an easy matter to figure, but if you count yourself lucky, or should I say fortunate, that is a big win by itself.

Games are trivial.  That goes by definition.  What is a "point" anyhow/?  And how are they rewarded?   Are the Puppy Bowl points all that much more arbitrary than those of the Super Bowl.  The rules are made-up rules and the win as trivial as the game.

 And what does it mean to win?  Wouldn't it be funny if the team that ended up with the fewest points celebrated the same way as those that got the most "points."  They could.  The members of the Chiefs are as gifted as the Eagles.  They are wealthy, healthy famous and loved.  They are among the most fortunate of not only the country, but the world, and among the most fortunate of all those that have ever lived on this planet. They just played on about the biggest stage possible.  Yet they lost somehow?!  That is hard to imagine.  

The point I am getting at here is the arbitrariness of the sense of winning or losing, particularly in games, but also extending beyond that.  It is pretty much self-defined.  What does winning mean to you?

There is a kind of arbitrariness to many human goals, whether we are talking about something like metal detecting or football, although it might seem difficult to see them in the same category.  Neither are involved primarily with basic human needs..  Both activities can support or help support individual and family needs to some extent.  Both can result in humanitarian acts.  

Football can be seen as providing lessons for both those that participate and those that are just observers.  It takes a lot of discipline, patience, dedication and the development of skills, as well as working through tough times and failure.  It is possible to win and lose well.

The same goes for metal detecting.  The keys to success are very similar for many different kinds of human activities.  Dedication, practice, patience, skill development, and enduring the days when "today is NOT the day" are all part of the game.

Now that the game and party is over here are a few questions.

How do you score points?  How do you define winning for yourself?  Is it something like a game with made-up rules?  Or is it something deeper?

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Soure: SurfGuru.com.

Looks like the surf will be building a little.

We will be in for some hot days.  

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net