David O'Hara

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:40:38 -0500

Buckeye

On campus today. Winter has not yet arrived.

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:23:12 -0500

“[Polykrates] raided and plundered everyone without exception. In fact, he once said that he could better ingratiate a friend by returning what he had taken than by never taking it in the first place.” — Herodotus 3.39

Bugs in my Books

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 07:05:57 -0500

My journals are full of bugs.

And other beautiful things I see in the world.

Yesterday in the warm sun I was checking out a few places where the coccinellidae gather, to see who was there. I was hoping to see some of the Hyperaspis species that I sometimes find there, rare little treasures that we easily overlook. But i was glad to see the big, bright, joyful colors of a few of rhe larger species of lady beetles.

And so I sketched rhem in my journal, just as I urge my students to do.

Listening

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 06:46:22 -0500

I’ve reached that point where it is hard for me to listen to a talk without taking some time to sketch the person talking.

I mean, I can listen either way, but why waste the opportunity to sketch and paint while listening? That way I get the benefit of the lecture AND extra art practice. What’s the downside?

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 06:58:24 -0500

The Carpenter

Downtown Sioux Falls, photo taken during an afternoon stroll.

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 21:07:01 -0500

Last butterflies of the season? Maybe. There’s beauty all around us. These two were in my garden this afternoon, despite the frost two nights ago.

Attention

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 19:43:43 -0500

Attention is an indicator of love.

Not attending to what merits our love is indifference.

Attending to what does not merit our love is idolatry.

When businesses work hard to commodify our attention, we should consider who and what actually deserves it.

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 21:31:32 -0500

Just spent the last two days hosting Robert P. George and Cornel West on my campus. Life-affirming. Love-affirming. My heart is full. I asked them if we could take this photo for my grandchildren. But it was of course also for me to remember this week.

My Art EDC

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 10:25:35 -0500

Posting because @mjkaul asked and others have occasionally asked about my “artist EDC”. Here’s my go-to kit for sketching and painting on the go.

A toned-tan sketchbook from Strathmore.
A Fudenosuke pen from Tombow.
A watercolor set from Art Toolkit.
A water brush from Pentel.

And here’s a recent sketch I did from a photo while on the tarmac at O’Hare, waiting to fly home to Sioux Falls. A great way to deepen the memories of a fine visit.

Chicago

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 06:23:27 -0500

Some quick sketches of Chicago on the plane home. These are not the highlights of Chicago, not the usual photos one sees in tourist brochures. They’re the invasive mussel shells I saw while thinking of the future of the place where my granddaughter lives. They’re a small steeple in a wooded street not far from hot urban streets with noisy elevated trains and no shade. They‘re memories of a weekend with people I love in a wonderful city.

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 15:23:32 -0500

Travel sketch. Walked down to Oak & Honey for brunch today, and came upon the Chicago Marathon on the way.

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 20:41:28 -0500

A beautiful day in Chicago with my family, portrayed in two watercolor sketches.

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 16:55:11 -0500

Lincoln Park, Chicago. Watercolor and gouache on tan paper, details with micron pen. Sometimes my nature journal becomes an urban sketchbook.

Minneapolis 🎨🏛️

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:46:38 -0500

More time on planes after a short visit to Minneapolis.

The Twin Cities are beautiful. So much to please the eye in both the natural and the built environments. Minneapolis is a great place for walking and biking, and there are so many good places to find good food and to visit.

It’s hard to forget that Minneapolis has been through some hard times recently. I love this place, I love the people. And I hope for better days ahead.

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:25:08 -0500

What I do on planes.

I’m usually not interested in all the screens planes now have on the back of every seat. But here is my sketchbook, and here is a photo I took in the garden yesterday. Why not study the photo and do a little sketch?

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:22:42 -0500

Angelus

C.S. Peirce on Thinking Machines

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 16:13:26 -0500

“In the ‘Voyage to Laputa,’ there is a description of a machine for evolving science automatically. ‘By this contrivance, the most ignorant person, at a reasonable charge, and with little bodily labor, might write books in philosophy, poetry, politics, laws, mathematics, and theology, without the least assistance from genius or study.’ The intention is to ridicule the Organon of Aristotle and the Organon of Bacon, by showing the absurdity of supposing that any ‘instrument’ can do the work of the mind. Yet the logical machines of Jevons and Marquand are mills into which the premises are fed and which turn out the conclusions by the revolution of a crank. The numerous mathematical engines that have been found practically useful, from Webb’s adder up to Babbage’s analytical engine (which was designed though never constructed), are also machines that perform reasoning of no simple kind. Precisely how much of the business of thinking a machine could possibly be made to perform, and what part of it must be left for the living mind, is a question not without conceivable practical importance; the study of it can at any rate not fail to throw needed light on the nature of the reasoning process. Though the instruments of Jevons and Marquand were designed chiefly to illustrate more elementary points, their utility lies mainly, as it seems to me, in the evidence they afford concerning this problem.”

– Charles S. Peirce. “Logical Machines,” in Writings of Charles Sanders Peirce, ed. N. Houser (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000) 6:65.

Melissa Blue

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 19:56:32 -0500

Today in my environmental philosophy class I was teaching the students about lycaenid butterflies. I haven’t seen one on campus for a long time. As soon as class ended and as the students were walking away across the grass, a little Melissa Blue the size of my fingernail flitted up and rested in the grass beside me. Now its memory is sketched in my journal.

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 19:37:07 -0500

Agapostemon bee. I love the full immersion in the meal.

Keep Journaling

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:01:04 -0500

Keep journaling

I can begin a nature journal entry while standing next to a flower or gazing out over a landscape. That is often — usually — the first step.

Often I return to my journals, and continue to make observations. Compare today’s work with yesterday’s and you can see the value of the journal for me: it is a place for continued wonder.

Some have called this the practice of “perpetual journaling,” akin to what Thoreau did: a page is not a permanent and stable artifact, but a bookmark for a scene, a species, a place of wonder.

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 19:45:16 -0500

Began the day with some photography in the garden and then did some sketching and painting from my photos while waiting in my doctor’s office.

Enjoying the bees and flowers while the weather allows, and enjoying the garden while it still exists.

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:27:15 -0500

Three bees on a sunflower. Two of them are Agapostemon virescens, I believe. The third is fuzzy. (Not a scientific description but I can only claim so much expertise.)

Queen

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 15:54:56 -0500

Campus chapel was filled today for a memorial service for a beloved colleague. She taught with deep and fiery love. And she shared what she loved with all her students and with us her colleagues. As the tears come and go in waves I am remembering her in my journal today. She taught her students to wonder at the beauty of creation. She loved God and she loved science. She was a gift. After the service i saw a monarch butterfly, and then another. Their migration continues to pass through. A quick sketch in my journal is my gift to Ann today. I miss you, Ann. May you rest in peace and in abiding love, and may you rise in glory in the world to come.

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 15:23:15 -0500

Part of the phenology calendar in our kitchen. Are there species you watch for where you live?

Long Bloom

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 20:51:09 -0500

Today’s Phenology Sketch

The garden my students made seven years ago is full of flowers still. Most gardens are done blossoming but this one is full of prairie native plants. The prairie feeds pollinators for a long season. It’s a mutually beneficial system, and it is beautiful to see: more blossoms and more life. This garden, I am told, is soon to become a few parking spots. While it is still in bloom I will continue to visit it, and care about the small lives that appear.