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Cabin Construct
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

It takes a lot of work to hand-hew logs for cabin construction, so the work is minimized. Only the ends of the logs on the sidewalls are squared off; just what is needed to form a tight joint. The smaller logs forming the ceiling (as well as the base for a sod-roof) don’t need squaring off at all, except when using one that is of a significantly larger diameter than the others.

Aging Crescent
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

The Cresent wrench was the first adjustable wrench in America, introduced in 1907. Given its condition, it looks like this one could have been a first-edition issue.

Wired
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

Like open sun-light doors, aged wire fencing is another subject I don’t seem to tire of photographing. In this case the fencing closed off an opening to an otherwise windowless shed, whose interior provided the dark background.

A Cool Place
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

This title was a very literal choice. This is the spring house at the Lockhart Ranch. A rather active spring originates in its dark depths, exiting under the door frame to form a small stream that joins a larger creek nearby. If the door was still on the spring house it could have joined the image from yesterday’s post as part of my theoretical Open Door exhibition.

The Open Door
Lockhart Ranch, Montana
2022

It’s really hard for me (and other photographers too I think) to see sunlight doors opening onto a darkened room and not photograph them–not that there is any reason to avoid the subject. Over the years I’ve probably amassed enough photos of open doors to mount a small exhibition. Heck, it was just a couple of months ago that I posted a similar photo taken in Arizona. The main challenge of exhibiting such a collection of photos would be to somehow make them different enough that they don’t quickly become repetitive.

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.)