An early morning hike with my class in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Beautiful, dense vegetation, and the songs of howler monkeys in the trees above. ⁦@AugiePhilosophy⁩ @AugustanaSD⁩ #environmentalphilosophy #teachoutdoors

The article reads like “People are showing up at restaurants and people who don’t think food is important aren’t sure why.”

Nonreligious Pilgrims? Why Secular Travelers Are Flocking to Sacred Spaces. nytimes.com/2026/11/11/tra… via @nytimes

Each time I hear of huge financial gifts to political campaigns I want to find the donor and ask if they have considered how far a little money goes in education. For $10M you could start a school at a regional university. Or so many other things.

The view at the end of my run this evening. The prairie (“flyover country” some call it) continues to astonish.

List of 69 Greco-Roman books attested to exist (from legible fragments) among the carbonized papyri of Herculaneum. All of these works are currently lost to time, but some may be recovered in the future by the "digital unwrapping" and scanning of the papyri.

If you have a library, cherish it. davoh.org/2026/11/11/lib…

How to prepare for an apocalypse. It all sounds fine, but may I suggest that in addition to having some extra water and batteries, each of us should engage in the daily practices of loving our neighbors as ourselves? It’s good preparation for hard times.

apple.news/AtrZPykRsQz-EC…

@pepperdine is hiring another ENDOWED CHAIR to join us in GREAT BOOKS 📚

Who wants to join us in this significant work!? A Senior Appointment. Reach out if you want to discuss more. apply.interfolio.com/197348

This week in my Environmental Philosophy class we have been talking about repair. From simple things like working with your hands to repair things you own, to the work of repairing a landscape through plant ecology, to repairing relationships in a community.

It’s such a fun thing to talk about. My students already help me build and maintain gardens. For years we have helped other schools make outdoor classrooms, and we help churches plan food forests and other gardens.

Often my students join me in the work even when there’s no grade or credit involved. They’ll pick up shovels, or learn to use and maintain hand tools to do carpentry with me.

So often, doing simple work with others plays a role in repairing relationships.

“We put the thought of all that we love into all that we make.”

— The elves of Lórien

“This assignment posed three seemingly simple questions: what do I value, what am I building, what do I want the story of my life to be? I did not expect this essay to be one of the hardest in my academic career thus far.”

— One of my students.

By the way, I’m very pleased with the way that essay turned out. My students have been wonderful this semester.

We have too few kids in regular attendance in our tiny parish to have a Sunday school but for the last few weeks I’ve been gathering the kids around a table during coffee hour and giving them art lessons. Some of the grownups join in, too.

Two animals I saw yesterday here in Sioux Falls. One was at the zoo, where I visited with my son and grandson. The other was in my garden, and I think it’s the latest date I have seen a butterfly at this latitude. Brush pens and tan toned paper.

When being just and honest comes at a price, pay it. When forgiving seems like a defeat, forgive. When everyone tells you to think of yourselves first, do not be afraid to put yourselves in the last place. Be willing to give up time, money, comfort and plans to serve others. May those who see you find themselves asking: “Why do they live in this way? Where do they get this freedom? Why do they love one another so much?” #ApostolicJourney #Uruguay

Amen

These books don’t need to be rented, don’t need software updates, don’t depend on distant database maintenance, won’t run out of batteries. But they can be held, adorned with marginalia, annotated, bookmarked, shelved according to the memory palace of the owner.

Adding this to my list of reasons why I think Canvas is unhealthy for our students. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the…

“Every thing throws light upon everything.”
theatlantic.com/books/2026/11/…