The holiday season is upon us, and there is no more visible symbol of it than the arrival of the Roskam family calendar on Capitol Hill.  

Early copies of “Congressman Peter Roskam’s 2016 Calendar” found their way into eager hands in the House press galleries on Tuesday. This makes edition No. 3 for the homemade calendar from Rep. Peter Roskam and his wife Elizabeth, who provided the paintings of still lifes around the Capitol and back in home sweet home Chicago.  

“Papal Dawn,” for instance, is the art representing September 2016. Perhaps it’s no accident, as September of this year was when Pope Francis came to address Congress. Rumor has it Mrs. Roskam presented former Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, with the painting. Boehner, of course, was instrumental in getting the pontiff to come Capitol Hill’s way on Sept. 24, and said the visit was the perfect moment to cap his career. (He announced his resignation from Congress the very next day.)  

A quote from C.S. Lewis graces “Papal Dawn,” stating, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” The calendar is sprinkled throughout with such aphorisms.  

July’s entry is a painting of the sign at Wrigley Field, with the painting titled, “This is Their Year.” Sam Adams has the quote underneath: “How strangely will the tools of a tyrant pervert the plain meaning of words.”  

Good advice for a politician perhaps. But for a Cubs fan? We’ll have to wait ’til next year!