“In the beginning..
when ray and day hadn’t yet come into existence at all,
there was a kind of radiance that illuminates universe.
That radiance is the light of knowledge and goodness.
That radiance will persistently and consistently shines brightly
even after all the stars and moons in this vast universe died out.”

-Toba Beta

When I first looked into those eyes, a door in a barn had opened, she was living there while she was working to restore the farmhouse a few feet away.

A large rescued warrior dog rushed to the door to challenge me with ferocity, to warn me, and to put herself in harm’s way to protect the only human she had ever loved.

I saw right away that the two of them were man-haters, Thelma and Louise alone in the remote countryside. The first thing she ever said to me was “oh, I know you. I haven’t read any of your books.”

I smiled and liked her directness right away. I came to buy an old barn window for my own barn, she had two or three to sell.

It was a long time before I saw the smile, but the radiance never left her eyes. It told me she was very much alive and strong.

She looked haggard to me, tired and, I thought, somewhat depressed. She had no smile, but when I looked into her eyes, I saw a radiance that I was to love very soon.

It was the radiance of goodness and life and it was to grow and shine ever more brightly over time. In it, I saw her fierce and loving spirit.

I saw the glowing eyes of the artist.

I try to capture it all the time in my photographs. She never poses,I just have to be patient and lucky.