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Oct 3, 2018Monarch butterflies migrate south

Fall sets in motion a journey of some 3,000 miles for these monarch butterflies, which migrate from southern Canada to their wintering habitat in central Mexico. There, they cluster together in fir trees, creating the illusion of orange, fluttering foliage. They’ll remain in their winter roosts until March, when the journey back north begins. But no one individual monarch will complete the full roundtrip, which exceeds the normal monarch lifespan; instead it will take four generations of monarchs to complete the full migration, each individual seemingly driven by an internal compass that guides its flight path.Desktop Version

Oct 2, 2018North Cascades National Park at 50

You’ve heard of Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks–but here’s a lesser-known destination to add to your national park bucket list. North Cascades National Park celebrates its 50th anniversary today. Located about 100 miles northeast of Seattle, and stretching up to the Canadian border, it"s surrounded by two national recreation areas and other protected lands, including several national forests and wilderness areas, and by Canadian provincial parks in neighboring British Columbia. Despite all of this stunning wilderness, North Cascades National Park isn"t nearly as busy as the big-name parks, and that can be a good thing. Here you’ll find the most extensive system of glaciers in the lower 48 states—more than 300 glaciers. It’s the glaciers that lend a lovely turquoise hue to freshwater lakes, like Ouzel Lake on today’s homepage. The 500,000-acre park also boasts spectacular wildlife, alpine forests, and waterfalls. See you there?Desktop Version

Oct 1, 2018It’s NASA’s 60th birthday

For some Monday inspiration, we’re looking to the sky. In honor of NASA’s 60th anniversary, these are the contrails from a 2007 liftoff of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which transported astronauts to space and back for 30 years before being retired here, at Kennedy Space Center, where visitors can view it in person.Desktop Version

Sep 30, 2018Aw shucks, it’s oyster season in Galway

When you think of Ireland, do you think of oysters? The proud oyster farmers here in Galway Bay think you should. This weekend, fans of the bivalve have poured into the Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival, an event that claims to be the oldest oyster festival in the world--and the most recognized Irish festival outside of St. Patrick’s Day. Visit Galway yourself and you can sample the native oysters, which have been harvested here for centuries, and also try the Pacific varieties that were brought in during the 1970s. Fans of native Galway oysters tout their meaty texture and subtle flavor. They pair well with Guinness, we presume.Desktop Version

Sep 29, 2018Vietnam’s new bridge deserves a big hand

When Vietnam’s Golden Bridge opened this summer in the Ba Na Hills near Da Nang, images of the stunning structure went viral, and it’s no wonder. The bridge is cradled by ancient-looking hands that look like they were carved out of the mountain centuries ago–the perfect backdrop for a stunning selfie. Those big hands are actually made of wire mesh and fiberglass, fashioned around towers that support this tourist attraction that sits 3,200 feet above sea level. The pedestrian bridge offers some of the region’s most dramatic views of the Trường Sơn Mountains here in Central Vietnam. The architect is reportedly working on a sister bridge, but it will be silver, not gold.Desktop Version

Sep 28, 2018Southern right whales sail home to South Africa

Each year during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter and early spring months (June through November), southern right whales migrate from the far Southern Ocean near Antarctica to the coast of South Africa to mate and calve. Their tendency to swim in shallow waters near the shore—and their curiosity around boats—delight tourists here, and has made the town of Hermanus, South Africa, an international whale-watching hot spot. The town even employs its own ‘whale crier,‘ who sounds a horn when a sighting is made. Today marks the start of the Hermanus Whale Festival, a celebration of these mighty migrants.Desktop Version

Sep 27, 2018High seas commerce

Unless you work in shipping, you may not think about how much global shipping affects our daily lives. Most of the consumer goods we buy traveled across oceans on massive container ships. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates that as much as 90 percent of global trade relies on ships. The IMO created World Maritime Day to call attention to the hard work mariners do finding the most efficient and safest shipping routes around the globe.Desktop Version

Sep 26, 2018Art in the chapel

You have until Oct 31 to get to Governors Island in New York Harbor to see artist Jacob Hashimoto’s installation ‘The Eclipse.’ The Colorado native built this room-filling artwork out of rice-paper and bamboo kites, stringing the delicate pieces across the ceiling of the Chapel of St. Cornelius. ‘The Eclipse’ is accompanied by another of the artist’s works, ‘Never Comes Tomorrow,’ which is on display in Liggett Hall Archway, also on the island.Desktop Version

Sep 25, 2018Walking among the giants

Sequoia National Park was founded on this day in 1890, and while the park’s 128 years is nothing to sneeze at, some trees in the giant sequoia grove had called this home for thousands of years before they were given the protection of a national park. The Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park is where General Sherman, the largest tree in the world, stands. It is estimated to be 2,300 to 2,700 years old—a silent witness to both natural and human history. By the time Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa ‘found’ the Pacific Ocean in 1513, General Sherman had been growing for more than 1,500 years.Desktop Version

Sep 24, 2018Mooncake time

In ancient China, moon worship was tied closely to fertility and the harvest. So the full moon that happened closest to the fall equinox became the holiday now called Mid-Autumn Festival, also called Moon Festival by some. Originally a celebration of the harvest and a plea to the gods for rains to ensure a good harvest next year, the festival has become a more secular bit of autumn fun, with children and adults alike eating sweet mooncakes, lighting lanterns, and giving thanks for all they have. Really, they had us at ‘mooncake.’Desktop Version

Sep 23, 2018Ahh-tumn

To celebrate the autumnal equinox, we’re in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The park includes part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley, and in fall, the forests of Shenandoah offer a kaleidoscope of red, gold, orange, and brown as the leaves turn and begin to drop. Skyline Drive, a highway winding across the mountains, will be crowded for the next few weeks as visitors make the trek to take in the view as the seasons change.Desktop Version

Sep 22, 2018Time for brass bands and beer

Our photo today shows the crowds at an Oktoberfest parade reflected in the bell of a brass horn. In Munich, Germany, the 16-day festival will include many brass bands marching and playing celebratory Bavarian folk music, while other bands will play for the beer drinkers in the tents and beer halls that dot the festival grounds. Why call it ‘Oktoberfest’ when it begins in September? The original Oktoberfest began on October 12, 1810, as a massive one-day royal wedding celebration open to the public. On October 12 the following year, Munich citizens commemorated the wedding with another party, and an annual tradition was born. The festivities grew longer and longer each year over the course of two centuries, and Oktoberfest eventually extended into the weeks before the original date. Organizers supported the earlier start to take advantage of better weather in late September, but the party will forever be known as Oktoberfest.Desktop Version

Sep 21, 2018A tower of light

Today is the International Day of Peace, an annual observance created by the United Nations and first celebrated in 1982. To recognize this noble effort, we bring you to Viðey Island, just north of Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik. The island is home to the Imagine Peace Tower, a ring of lights and mirrors that beams up nearly 2.5 miles into the night sky. It was created by Yoko Ono as an extension of the peace campaign started by the artist and her late husband, John Lennon. The base features the phrase ‘Imagine Peace’ in 24 different languages. When speaking of today’s observance, the UN defines ‘peace’ in the broadest terms–ceasefires and truces, however temporary, are all lauded as efforts to create a world free of violence.Desktop Version

Sep 20, 2018May we have this dance?

Dancers have been waltzing across the mahogany floors at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, in Lancashire, England, for more than a century. For those on this side of the pond, Blackpool is a popular seaside resort in the UK, home to the 518-foot-tall Blackpool Tower, a tourist destination built in 1894 and inspired by the Eiffel Tower. These days, when people talk about the tower, they may be referring to the building’s many associated venues–a circus, theater, and the ornate ballroom shown here.Desktop Version

Sep 19, 2018Talk like a pirate—or walk the plank

Blimey! The so-called Golden Age of Piracy, in the 17th and 18th centuries, has long captured our imaginations, and inspired books and movies about swashbucklers on the high seas. So much do Americans love pirates, that they created a holiday dedicated to blabberin" like one. Talk Like a Pirate Day was first imagined in 1995 by two Oregon residents who pitched the idea to columnist Dave Barry. From there, it went viral. These days, Sept 19 is celebrated internationally, with major brands and media personalities joining in the silliness. We’re fans, too. Just picture us typin" this here with an eye patch, peg leg, an" pocket-full o" swag doubloons. Arrrrrr!Desktop Version

Sep 18, 2018A red knot on the Shetland Islands, Scotland

This little bird with its 20-inch wingspan weighs about as much as a stick of butter, but it has the stamina of an Olympian. Each fall, red knots are known to fly more than 9,000 miles from the Arctic to South America–and in the spring, they do the journey in reverse, for a roundtrip of more than 20,000 miles. The most famous red knot, known as ‘Moonbird,’ is so named because the total of its known migrations have exceeded the distance to the moon. Moonbird was first banded in Rio Grande, Argentina, in 1995 and has been sighted many times in the years after–amazing scientists and birders alike.Desktop Version

Sep 17, 2018Gateway to America

We’re here at Ellis Island in honor of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, an annual observance that recognizes both the adoption of the US Constitution and those who have become US citizens. For more than 60 years, Ellis Island served as a gateway for millions of immigrants arriving in the United States—and it’s easy to imagine them gazing at the Statue of Liberty from this very window, while contemplating their new lives in the United States. These days, Citizenship Day is a popular time for federal courts to hold naturalization ceremonies, when new American citizens are sworn in. These free, often celebratory events are open to the public, and are often attended by students learning about citizenship.Desktop Version

Sep 16, 2018Mexico celebrates its Independence Day

September 16 is Independence Day in Mexico, and visitors here in Mexico City can expect fireworks, fiestas, and décor in the colors of the Mexican flag—red, white, and green. In Mexico City, Independence Day festivities begin with a reenactment of the ‘Grito de Dolores’ (Cry of Dolores), an event in 1810 when priest Miguel Hidalgo rang the bell of his church and called for a revolt from Spain. Each year, on the eve of Independence Day, Mexico’s president rings the same bell that Hidalgo rang and delivers a patriotic speech at the National Palace.Desktop Version

Sep 15, 2018A Latino art exhibition in Denver

National Hispanic Heritage Month begins today in the United States. To explore the breadth of the Latino experience in the US, one might start with art—especially work from contemporary artists such as Gabriel Dawe, whose work is shown here. This is "no. 36" from Dawe’s Plexus series, a collection of art installations constructed from embroidery thread. The Plexus series is named for the networks of blood vessels and nerves that run through the human body. Dawe writes that his work–centered on textiles–seeks to examine gender and identity in his native Mexico and to subvert notions of masculinity and machismo. "Plexus no. 36," was on display at the Denver Art Museum in 2017.Desktop Version

Sep 14, 2018Back to the nest

Spring is nearly here—if you live in the Southern Hemisphere. And these black-browed albatrosses, sometimes called mollymawks, have returned to their nesting grounds in the Falkland Islands where they will reunite with their mates. Each bird pair will lay a single egg in October and nurture the hatchling from December until April, when it’s time to take off and hunt the high seas again.Desktop Version

Sep 13, 2018They’re grrrape!

When you hear wine experts talk of ‘Burgundies,’ they are referring to wines made in this French region. The most common varieties are Pinot noir and Chardonnay, but farmers here grow many different types of grapes. September and early October is grape harvest time in France, so the usually quiet rows of grape vines we see in this photo are probably very busy with workers gathering the fruit to be crushed and fermented. We’re thinking about putting together a bread and cheese plate right now…Desktop Version

Sep 12, 2018A cutting-edge art gallery opens in Paris

Fine art has found a new canvas here in Paris, where L’Atelier des Lumières opened in April as the city’s first digital art museum. The venue, housed in a 19th-century foundry, uses 140 digital projectors to splash paintings high onto the walls and across the floors, allowing visitors to walk through, over, and into some of the world’s most famous pieces of art. L’Atelier des Lumières opened with an exhibit featuring works by Gustav Klimt, the prominent Austrian painter best known for ‘The Kiss,’ a portrait of a couple locked in an intimate embrace. Klimt was known for incorporating silver and gold leaf into his art nouveau-style oil paintings, creating an ethereal effect.Desktop Version

Sep 11, 2018Inside the Oculus

Reconstruction after the Sept 11 attacks included not just rebuilding on the site of the Twin Towers, but replacing the transit hub station there as well. The new vision for the transit hub includes the Oculus, a building designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. A defining feature of the Oculus is a skylight at the peak of its roof, which is opened on clear days, flooding the space below with light and giving patrons a view of the new One World Trade Center building. And every Sept 11, the skylight is left open to the elements for 102 minutes—the duration of the attack on the World Trade Center. The elegant transit station is often busy with travelers making a quick stop to shop or eat, since most of the space is dedicated to retail, as it had been before the attacks on 9/11.Desktop Version

Sep 10, 2018Party like it’s 5779

Jewish people around the world are celebrating Rosh Hashanah today, which literally translates as "head of the year." It may be Sept 10, but it"s also the first day of the first month on the Jewish calendar, which is based on the lunar month as opposed to the solar month. So, why are we looking at honeycombs--real ones, not the cereal? To note the Rosh Hashanah custom of eating apples dipped in honey for a sweet new year. Happy 5779!Desktop Version

Sep 9, 2018Welcome to ‘Hollywood North’

Today our travels take us to Toronto, the vibrant urban powerhouse of Ontario, Canada. Our photo shows the 2007 addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, a building known as The Crystal. The museum may not be terribly busy today, as the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is in full swing right now. If we’ve inspired you to cash in some frequent-flyer miles, bring some sensible walking shoes for the museum, and maybe something red-carpet worthy for TIFF.Desktop Version

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