Sunday, December 30, 2007

Petroglyphs

As a former anthropologist, petroglyphs hold a special place in my heart. I absolutely am intrigued by them. They are, of course, in Europe, Australia, and Africa where they are hundreds of thousand of years old. It is amazing to me that something so old can last so long. It takes a lot of time to carve images into rock, even small images, yet there are millions around the world. These are not to be confused with pictographs, which are paintings on rocks. This petroglyph photo was taken in Washington State. There were quite a few petroglyphs on the rock face that were moved to a state park to protect them from a river construction project and from people destroying them. This one is my favorite image I took that day, because you can clearly see and understand the image.

On a different note, I recently have been struggling with a decision that would affect my career path. Recently, I spoke with my good friend, Amy, and she didn't know it at the time, but she helped me reach the decision of a lifetime. I moved back east from Wyoming almost five years ago. I have been happy here for the most part, but long for the days of the west with the jagged mountains, the red rocks, the stunning landscapes, and the Ponderosa pine trees. At the end of February I will once again be headed back out west, destination unknown. I went back to school to become a nurse, but not just any nurse, a travel nurse. The ultimate job where I can move every three months, have my travel expenses paid for along with my apartment and still get a paycheck. On my days off, I plan to explore the US, and get some great photos to share. I am finally ready to go, I have my family and friend's support. It's time to go. I will let everyone know where I am headed once I reach that decision. I have a lot of work ahead of me to get everything in line, but am looking forward to it. I hope that I have a lot of visitors (ahem...AMY!) to wherever my feet land, especially when in the super cool places that are next door to national parks. Yes, that is the plan, live close to the parks to enjoy them on the days off. It's a big dream for a once timid Fulton County girl who never liked to drive on the interstate and never really went anywhere.

6 comments:

ASHE said...

Sandy! Yay for you! I will be extremely envious every day that I am not visiting you in your exotic locales!!! I know you will have the most glorious experiences and take incredible photographs, and post many blogs to keep us all up on your adventures.

That being said, I will miss you if you are no longer in Pennsylvania!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

live your dreams, Sandy....here's wishing you all the best......will love to see whichever part of the world you are in through your camera and words :)

Chad Oneil Myers said...

I'm glad I helped get you into this too ;)

Kerri Farley said...

Wow Sand! I'm a bit behind in reading your blog and just read this post! How Absolutely FANSTASTIC! Most of us dream of something like this....and you are going to live it! Wow! This is SO EXCITING!

I am soooo HAPPY for you!
Best of Luck!

Kerri Farley said...

Oops - I forgot to add....VERY NEAT SHOT! I don't think I have ever seen anything like this before.

And I guess you will be seeing more and more of them in your travels...then you can share them with us!!! How Neat!

Willard said...

That is exciting.

I can certainly identify with what you said. I have always had to fight that complex and I am glad that you and Amy have been able to defeat it to a much greater extent than I have.

Good luck wherever you go.