Notes From Boomerang Creek: The Call from Afar Cathy Salter Journeys often take root in the blink of an eye. You begin the day in one place and end it contemplating a major life change. In 1987, Kit and I were walking home from work at National Geographic on a stretch of Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. when we passed a shop that brought us to a halt. In the display window a large work of art struck us like a lightning bolt. Two planets, each home to a single house, stood out in a constellation filled with gold sparkling stars. A bolt of neon light connected the two worlds. At the base of the painting by Michael Pello Pinuotti were the words “The Call from Afar.”