How it all started

I suppose I should have made this entry first. You know, I didn't just wake up one morning and decide to become a glyph hunter. I found my first glyph quite by accident.
It all started back in September of 2004. I promised myself and the kids that we'd start being a little more physical, and with the proximity of mountains and hills to my home, hiking seemed like a good start. We shut off the TV, climbed out of the customized butt grooves we had formed in the couch, and hiked the small hill behind where I live.
It wasn't too bad, I was glad to see that we were able to climb the rocky hill without needing oxygen, and we didn't need a rescue chopper to bring us down from the "summit." Looked like we weren't in as bad shape as I feared.
Heading back down after enjoying the view, I came across the glyphs shown in the picture. I got really excited, called the kids over and said, "Look guys, petroglyphs!"
To this day, I'm a little impressed with myself because I knew what they were actually called. I could just as easily called them stone carving do-hickies.
I thought I had made a huge archaeological find, and was already picking out the shirt and tie I would wear for my cover photo of Time magazine. But as I did a little research, I learned that petroglyphs are pretty common around here. I showed pictures of the glyphs to people I work with, and they were pretty unimpressed except for one girl who was an ASU student. She told me about the Deer Valley Rock Art Center.
My interest has pretty much snowballed from that point. This new activity of mine serves lots of purposes. It gets me and the kids outside doing something physical, and it helps satisfy my technical gadget sweet tooth in the form of digital cameras, GPS, and the like. It's also introduced me to a new community of people. I'm now a member of the Arizona Archaeological Society and the American Rock Art Research Association. I'm all about preservation, and am reluctant to divulge the location of a couple of sites that I believe were previously unknown.
I'm really glad I found those first glyphs, this new interest of mine has given me a really positive outlet for my energy.