Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa Preparing to Reopen

Today's entry in the Our Daily Bread devotional begins with this: "I have always enjoyed the wit and insight of Peanuts creator, Charles Schulz. One of my favorite cartoons drawn by him appeared in a book about young people in the church. It shows a young man holding a Bible as he tells a friend …

“The Earth Laughs in Flowers”

In celebration of all that blossoms in May, I’m posting paintings by the American Impressionist Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939) alongside “flowery” quotes from Emerson, O’Keefe, Okakura and Heine along with a Tennyson poem punctuated by a listening larkspur and a whispering lily. “The earth laughs in flowers.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson “Nobody sees a flower – …

Photos Soon To Be Available for Purchase

I'm delighted to announce that my photographs will soon be available for purchase at Grand Canyon National Park and via an e-commerce site I will launch later this month (I'll post a link when the site is good to go)! The Grand Canyon Association, the park's non-profit partner, features only a handful of photographers and my …

The End of Night? From The Starry, Starry Night to the Overpowering Street Light

For nearly a year now, I’ve had the privilege of living and working in Grand Canyon National Park. In late June, I was among some 1,100 attendees participating in one of the four nights of the 24th annual Grand Canyon Star Party. Astronomers from across the country, operating nearly 50 telescopes that were set up behind …

Drink in art each day so worldly cares won’t obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in your soul

"...[One] should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The silk tapestries seen here represent the combined efforts …

I’ve Finally Started Tweeting

I’ve finally opened a Twitter account. I’ve begun posting there on Christian spirituality, wildlife, wild places, art, travel, photography, companion animals, poetry, literature, soundscapes, habitats, books, writing, politics, social issues and… You’ll find me under D.F.G. Hailson. I hope you’ll look for me and will connect with me there. Of course, I’ll still be blogging …

All Things Snoopy

On October 2, 1950, three kids – Charlie Brown, Patty and Shermy – appeared on the funny pages of seven newspapers. Over the next 50 years plus – via television specials, a Saturday morning cartoon, books, live theater productions, recordings, amusement parks and 17,897 comic strips – these three, along with Snoopy, Woodstock and others …

George Beverly Shea: A Life Lived “On Pitch”

Beloved gospel singer George Beverly Shea, 104, of Montreat, N.C., soloist of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, died Tuesday evening following a brief illness. News of his passing has taken me back in memory 22 years. In 1991, the Graham Association created a profile of my life and ministry for airing during one of the …

Following Ruskin’s Lead

John Ruskin was a leading English art critic, social thinker and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He was also a watercolorist who lamented that most individuals do not take the time nor make the effort to see what is right before them. In The Art of Travel, Alain de Botton notes that Ruskin believed one way to "possess beauty …