May 2022

Sand Island Petroglyph #4
Sand Island Campground, Utah
2021

Visually this set of petroglyphs is not as striking as the others in the area. While it does have it’s own set of unique characters, what I found most interesting about this set is that they were created on a section of canyon wall that had none of the dark desert varnish used as the scratch medium for the figures like most petroglyphs do. That’s the reason these don’t stand out well– in fact they are easy to walk right by without noticing them except when the sun is hitting them at such a low angle, creating maximum contrast. These figures also seemed to make use of an unusual (for this area anyway) method of pecking method to fill in the heads of some of the creatures depicted.

Sand Island Petroglyph #3
Sand Island Campground, Utah
2021

The design and subject matter of these petroglyphs seemed totally out of synch with the other panels at Sand Island Campground, as well as with each other. Do the horses and associated figures represent Spanish conquistadors and/or priests who visited the area on their travels? I know Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was in southern Utah in 1540 on his search for the fabled city of Cibola. I should really study up more on these antiquities.

Sand Island Petroglyph #2
Sand Island Campground, Utah
2021

If spirals represent migration, do repetitive spirals mean more people migrating? Or perhaps different migrations at different times. I liked this set of petroglyphs as they pair nicely with the adjacent hedgehog cactus.

Sand Island Petroglyph #1
Sand Island Campground, Utah
2021

My imagination just can’t cope with the random variety of some of the figures in the panels at Sand Island Campground. Hence I’ve been forced to revert to a simple numbering system for titles. I do love the large figure on this panel. It appears to be a relative of nearby Big Daryl.

Big Daryl at His Going Away Party
Sand Island Campground, Utah
2021

There is so much going on on some rock art panels it’s hard to imagine a coherent story line for a set of images. In fact, there generally isn’t anything coherent going on since many of the inscriptions are made years, or even centuries apart sometimes. But, not to be confused with all the academically based deep and serious thoughts about their meanings, and certainly with apologies to anyone who considers them sacred symbols, it’s sometimes fun to make up a non-serious explanation for what’s going on. In this image, that’s obviously Big Daryl in the middle. You can tell he’s at a party because of all the people dancing on the left side of him. I figured its a going away party because, according to what I’ve read, spirals in Anasazi petroglyphs supposedly represent migration. (How anyone came to that conclusion about these centuries old spirals is unknown to me. But I presume that conclusion is more grounded in science than the story of Big Daryl and the dancers.)

Ribbon Rock
Sand Island Campground, Utah
2021

The low afternoon sun raking across this cliff surface imparts a glow to a ribbon-like ledge on the rock face.

Cumulonimbus Rock
Sand Island Campground, Utah
2021

The Walls Have Eyes
Sand Island Campground, Utah
2021

Without too much trouble, I can see a partially finished sculpture of a raven carved into this wall. The bird’s beak is pointing to the right his eye and eyelid are on the left. The smaller hole on the right? Well, that’s actually just a piece of food he has clamped in his beak.

The Spectator
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

Approaching Magnificent
Tucson, Arizona
2022

There is definitely more to read on the walls of the Crossroads restaurant in Tucson while waiting in line for the men’s room than when I used to go there back in the 70s. But there was no covid back then, which meant I could feel comfortable eating inside in the dining area instead of getting an order to go. All in all I prefer the 70s.