What happens to 131 images when a memory card goes on the fritz? Do their pixels just disassociate? I had big plans for rabbits, bowls, and petroglyphs but apparently there are consequences for waiting weeks to download photos to the computer. The other day the memory card went kaput mid-sunset extravaganza. Oh well. It was under warranty.

One of the walks we went on recently was inspired by the atlas, which showed a little marker for “petroglyphs” somewhere behind our grocery store. We parked at a nearby church and found a paved pathway. Lo! We came quickly upon a jumble of boulders with carvings both old and new. Dr. G spotted the first petroglyph, a swirl that looked organic enough that I doubted his sharp eye. (Note to self: do not doubt Dr. G’s sharp eye.) We clambered up and around and found lizards, people with antlers, squiggles, and all kinds of things. There was also the word “DAN” which I assume has more recent provenance.

The best thing about the glyphs was touching them. I ran my hands over the gentle indentations and thought about other hands that had done the same, five hundred years ago or more. Most of the artifacts around here are from the industrious Hohokam people, who vanished in the late 1400′s, leaving behind buildings, petroglyphs, and irrigiation terraces, among other things. There are three long, straight piles of rock running down the valley toward our condo complex, and I wonder if they are also Hohokam, though my musings are unconfirmed.

The petroglyphs we found are pretty simple; they meander in horizontal spirals around all sides of the rocks. Some are composed mostly of straight lines, others of spirals and squiggles. My favorite lizard’s tail curls up like a lolipop. I love 3-D art, but there are so few opportunities to actually touch it. The last time I got to touch some cool art was when one of Henry Moore’s pieces — it looked like giant separated joints–stood outside the Hirshorn for a year or so. That was great; I could practically hug it. I don’t think I was really supposed to but oh well, it was outside on the sidewalk! The petroglyphs are tactile in a more small-scale, mossy porous rock kind of way. It’s fun to compare the old with the new, imagining ancient teenage boys and more recent ones connected by their graffitti.