’Chess on ice’ Dec 5, 2018

’Chess on ice’

Officially, summer began on December 1 here in New Zealand (where the first days of March, June, September, and December respectively are considered the start of autumn, winter, spring, and summer). But this icy view of Naseby, on New Zealand’s South Island, shows that harsh winters here offer great conditions for outdoor curling, or what competitors call ‘chess on ice.’ And when there’s a multi-game tournament going on, that’s a ‘bonspiel’ in curling lingo. This year marks the first ever Curling World Cup. The second leg of the four-leg event brings the curlers to Omaha, Nebraska, today through December 9. Canada’s teams won the first leg, in Suzhou, China. Will they face stiffer competition in the Cornhusker State?

© David Wall/Danita Delimont

palette

Today in History

Dec 5, 2019A growing business
Dec 5, 2020A cozy winter village
Dec 5, 2021Salzburg, Austria
Dec 5, 2022Saint Nicholas Day in Verbier, Switzerland
Dec 5, 2023Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles, Bavaria, Germany
Dec 5, 2024Tufa formations in Mono Lake, California
Dec 5, 2025Maya site of Copán

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul 25, 2018Splashes of color for Watercolor Month
Jul 5, 2021How green is my valley
Jan 29, 2022Brain coral
Jan 31, 2020Dance of the egret
Oct 19, 2023Mekong River Delta, Long An, Vietnam
May 20, 2019The island fox’s incredible comeback
Jul 5, 2024Daintree Rainforest and Noah Beach, Queensland, Australia
Feb 25, 2021Trevi in bloom
Mar 17, 2024St. Patricks Day
Mar 26, 2024Vinh Hy Bay, Vietnam
Jun 25, 2021Birds and bees, and why they re so important
Mar 14, 2018Happy Pi Day!
May 2, 2018Mackerel forming a bait ball to avoid predators
Aug 2, 2019An uncommon look at an American icon
Apr 29, 2024Fujian Tulou, China
Sep 30, 2020All eyes on moths
Sep 3, 2025Annivesary of the Wilderness Act of 1964
Oct 19, 2025Apples ready for harvest in Minnesota
Aug 10, 2020Kings of the Kalahari
Apr 15, 2022World Art Day
Aug 16, 2022National Roller Coaster Day
Dec 30, 2023Daiichi Tadami River Bridge, Fukushima, Japan
May 4, 2023Star Wars Day
Feb 19, 2021Colorful cows of the reef
Apr 3, 2018The village of Castelluccio above the Piano Grande, Umbria, Italy
Jan 1, 2025Happy New Year!
Oct 13, 2024Royal Alcázar of Seville, Spain
Jan 5, 2022National Bird Day
Jun 4, 2023Waiānapanapa State Park, Maui, Hawaii
Oct 28, 2024Pumpkin field, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada