Treasure Hunting: A Modern Search For Adventure ~ by H. Glenn Carson WHAT MAKES THIS HOBBY TICK? Why a sub-title like A SEARCH FOR MODERN ADVENTURE? The answer really is not too difficult. For far too many folks the age of exploration is over. The glorious days of Cortez, Coronado, and Pizarro are long gone, and all their grand dreams. The exciting days of seeking riches in the California gold fields, vowing, ''Pike's Peak or Bust!'' or climbing over the man-killing Chilcoot, towards the Klondike bonanzas shimmering ever-fainter through the mists of time, are gone. Even so, the spirit of adventure in all of us is not completely dead. Nostalgia hides the dirt, the dread, and the dreariness of those great and glorious yesteryears. Nearness also blinds far too many boredom-crippled souls today to adventures never before possible in this world. Each day people actually walk over lost or hidden remnants of the past, real treasures great and small, and seldom do any of those people, ever in their lives, realize it. Most folks dully dream of treasures, places, and adventures in distant times and climes while ignoring such things well within their grasp. The fraternity of treasure hunters — if that widely diverse conglomeration of seekers-after-adventure can be called a fraternity — is one group today that knows the truth of El Dorado. Each THer is to some degree convinced that his own personal golden fleece lies awaiting his search just beyond the next intriguing hill. That search is what makes THing compelling. Oh, finding goodies is marvelous, true enough, but THE SEARCH is what makes treasure seekers leap out of bed before the sun comes up, or sit talking to buddies around a campfire long after the sun goes down. The finding of small treasures along the way enlivens the route for the THer and makes the big bonanza seem somewhat closer. For many searchers, in fact, the little treasures become the primary object of the search. (After all, most of us realize that while we might find the big one, we also might not.) Bottles, for some, become THE reason for search. Single coins, to the coinshooter, often are ample incentives to get afield at every opportunity. Relics of yester times suffice to drive those creative artists who, a piece at a time, build an exhibit or a ''junk garden'' out of the forgotten trash heaps and dumps across the land. This search is what makes treasure hunting such a great hobby, or perhaps series of hobbies. The search gives today's TV-bored, bureaucracy-bound-and-bothered, narrowed-horizons citizen a free pass to adventure. Life becomes more worthwhile. The blood flows more freely; the mind and muscles seem to work better. That's what makes this hobby tick! Some of us have found... ...that the age of exploration   is not over.    We have found...     that adventure is, above all...      a state of mind,       and that,        largely of our own making. THing is indeed, today, a search for adventure. If it is escapism, so be it. People need something to get their minds off the miserable tax situation, overpopulation, pollution, wars and rumors of wars, countless threats and annoyances upon their personal and family lives; the list could go on endlessly. THing is perhaps the greatest hobby to become a pleasant reality in years. It is one of the good things to come out of the electronic age, perhaps counteracting some of the feeling of becoming a mere data symbol within an unfeeling, uncaring, computerized, and increasingly regimented society. The hobby is a great release for tensions built up in the hyperactive lives all too many of us lead. In no way can that be bad! From: Treasure Hunting, A MODERN SEARCH FOR ADVENTURE ~ H. Glenn Carson I'd like to buy MODERN SEARCH DOWNLOAD THE PDF E-BOOK (1235KB, right click and save to disk) DOWNLOAD THE PDF IN ZIP FILE FORMAT (1170KB) TELL-A-FRIEND ABOUT THIS E-BOOK! THEY'LL BE GLAD YOU DID!