The Call: Beauty of Words — Cheryl Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness. –Willa Cather My studio is now covered with glitter. Of course, that makes Stella and me happy. Today, when I ventured out for some errands that included haircuts for the boys, I […]

The Call: Fence, Snow, and Shadows — Cheryl “I keep deciding to believe in God, even on bad days.” — Doris Betts Similarly, I keep deciding to take pictures, even when I feel like there’s not an ounce of motivation/inspiration/passion left in my stuffed-to-the-gills brain.

Warm vs. Cool Thoughts — Cheryl People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and its ends, but to me it’s quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. […]

The Call: Wings — Cheryl This angel was a going-away gift from friends when I left Colorado eight years ago. I like the reminder it sports: If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them growing —Coco Chanel Oh, and this is the very first shot I took with my Lensbaby, which arrived […]

The Call: In the Tub — Cheryl “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” ― Ansel Adams The Response: Looking into the Past — Jessica Thousands of pictures taken over the years — and most of them live, forgotten, in boxes and hard […]

The Call: The Difference — Cheryl Bernard Schopen was one of my favorite professors at St. Anselm College, and his words have stuck with me for more than two decades. The Response: Let Me In — Jessica I muttered, knocking my knuckles through the glass, and stretching an arm out to seize the importunate branch; […]

The Call: Fortune Cookie Truism — Jessica Beauty is the gift of God. — Aristotle Wrapped in Ice — Cheryl If you have to drive anywhere in freezing rain, it’s difficult to find much about it that’s positive. Seen through the lens of a camera, though, frozen rain becomes beautiful, shiny gift wrap.

The Call: The Theology Shelf — Jessica Actually, this is just one of several shelves full of religious books. I have even given a lot of them away. Response: Piecing Together Life — Cheryl “… and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” — The […]

The Call: Hidden & Revealed — Jessica Thanksgiving Day reminds us that gratitude is the beginning of joy. We cannot be happy unless we’re first grateful; and gratitude can only come about through yet another virtue—humility, which is the ability to see beyond ourselves to the needs, feelings and rights of others. — Archbishop Charles […]

The Call: It’s Not Even on Straight — Cheryl “A fool always finds one still more foolish to admire him.” — Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux The Response: A Sea of Leaves — Jessica While the leaves are still falling from the trees, I say it is a folly to try and bag them.

The Call: Portrait of the Artist — Cheryl This is probably the most expensive book we own. It is a slipcased copy of James Joyce’s classic, published in 1968 for members of The Limited Editions Club. In 1994, I purchased it for Dennis as a wedding gift, paying $125 for it. It is copy no. […]

The Call: Like Her — Cheryl Growing up, everyone told me I looked like my father, or — even more so, his sister Mabel. Once in awhile I’d look in the mirror and see what they saw. No one ever told me I resembled my mother’s side of the family, and I could easily see […]

The Call: Jump — Jessica Faint hearts never won fair maidens. The two-year-old hesitated for exactly two seconds and then followed his five-year-old brother, jumping down the entire flight of stairs two at a time. One time through was not enough. At the bottom, they turned and ran back up in order to hop down […]

The Call: Begin with the End in Mind — Jessica I’ve never read Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. But somehow I’ve come to know what a few of the habits are. Not that I’m good at putting them into practice. I should probably read the book — it might make my […]