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Mooncake time
Mooncake 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
These patterns tell a story
These patterns tell a story
Is it possible for an article of clothing to express the essence of an entire people? Well, not usually, but for the Indigenous Guna people of Panama, the colorful handwoven textiles seen here may be an exception. Molas, which means "clothing" in the Guna language, are traditionally displayed on both the front and back of women"s blouses. Even today, many Guna women prefer to wear them instead of modern attire. The textiles often feature abstract geometric patterns, as well as images from nature such as turtles, flowers, birds, and fish. Guna women of yesteryear were known to paint their bodies with those same geometric patterns and designs, and by the late 1800s they had begun weaving them onto cloth instead of painting themselves. Today, the production of molas is still generally done by women, who use an intricate process called reverse appliqué, where as many as seven layers of fabric are sewn together to form a panel, which is then hand-cut to create the vibrant designs.Desktop Version
Manatees rebound
Manatees rebound
We’re in Florida’s Blue Spring State Park for Manatee Awareness Month. As winter approaches, Blue Spring becomes a safe harbor for manatees, aka sea cows, looking for warmer inland waters. It’s also a protected area for the manatees, where they can eat and swim without fear of injury from boats. In fact, researchers identify many of the manatees in Blue Spring by the scars they bear from accidental boat collisions and motor blade cuts. Identifying individual manatees has been crucial to tracking the population rebound of this once endangered species. A 2016 census of manatees in Florida’s springs counted 6,250 of the large, surprisingly graceful beasts.Desktop Version
Falling for Rioja
Falling for Rioja
While today"s image of beautiful fall colors in Rioja is serene and peaceful, the people of this area are hard at work harvesting grapes at 14,800 different vineyards across the region. And soon the 600 wineries in this smallest Spanish province will begin the lengthy process to turn this year"s grape harvest into its world-famous Rioja wines. (To get an idea of how tiny La Rioja province is, it makes up just 1 percent of Spain"s land area and only about 0.67 percent of Spain"s population lives here.) While winemaking techniques have evolved and improved over the thousands of years that wine has been made here, each year around this time locals and visitors gather in the region"s capital of Logroño to celebrate the wine harvest and see a traditional example of the first, uh, step of this process—crushing newly harvested grapes by stomping them with bare feet.Desktop Version
Frost on autumn leaves
Frost on autumn leaves
You can almost hear frost-coated autumn leaves crunching under your shoes as you walk through the woods. Though the calendar says it"s still autumn, scenes like this highlight the colder temperatures as winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere.Desktop Version
The most wonderful day of the year. Period.
The most wonderful day of the year. Period.
Er, comma—at least it seems like that"s what we"re seeing. And just like a comma breaks up a sentence, this structure called a breakwater interrupts the Pacific Ocean, punctuating waves with a crash before they can disturb this Bali beach. Whether its resemblance to a comma (or is that an apostrophe?) was intentional or not, it"s a fine visual for today"s syntactical celebration. That"s correct: It"s Grammar Day! (Note to hardline grammarians: We know punctuation—like a comma—isn"t exactly grammar, but we"re loosening the linguistical reins a bit in the generous spirit of Grammar Day. So put that red pen down, smarty-pants.)Desktop Version
Installation art turns heads
Installation art turns heads
If you ever encounter a giant plastic snail in the city or an army of rainbow-colored meerkats holding sentry outside a historic building, it’s likely an art installation from the Cracking Art collective. The group uses recyclable plastic to craft vivid representations of meerkats, elephants, snails, and other natural creatures for traveling art installations in unexpected locations. The collective’s use of plastic is meant to call attention to the sometimes blurry connection between natural and artificial reality, inviting viewers to reexamine the world around them. The meerkat exhibit on our homepage took place in 2015 at Le Mans Cathedral in Le Mans, France.Desktop Version
A growing business
A growing business
Today we"re showing off a serene scene at a Christmas tree farm outside Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. If you were to visit a farm like this today, however, it"s unlikely you"d find much peace and quiet. Of the 25 million to 30 million natural Christmas trees sold each year in the US alone, 98 percent of them come from farms. "Tis the season for tree chopping. Oregon, home to the popular noble and Douglas firs, produces the most Christmas trees of all US states, shipping much of the harvest to California. North Carolina, of Fraser fir fame, comes in at No. 2. Canada is the world"s largest exporter of Christmas trees, spreading holiday cheer around the world.Desktop Version
The wild heart of Tasmania
The wild heart of Tasmania
This boardwalk leads to one of the many lakes that dot Tasmania"s Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, a crown jewel of the island"s Wilderness World Heritage Area. Covering over 623 square miles in the interior of the island, the park is home to an incredible diversity of flora and fauna. Marsupials like Bennett"s wallabies, quolls, Tasmanian pademelons, wombats, Tasmanian pygmy possums, and the legendary Tasmanian devils, as well as short-beaked echidnas and platypuses, can be found in its ancient forests and lakes.Desktop Version
Happy Boxing Day!
Happy Boxing Day!
That "Boxing Day (UK)" printed on your calendar"s December 26 square has nothing to do with the sport of boxing—although for many modern Brits, Aussies, and other denizens of the Commonwealth, the holiday"s full slate of TV sporting events is the main observance. Folks with enough post-holiday energy might even slide down the hills on the grounds of this historic estate-turned public park, Barnett Demesne, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.Desktop Version
Celebrating Mexico in a Cultural Capital
Celebrating Mexico in a Cultural Capital
For Cinco de Mayo, we’re in San Miguel de Allende, a colonial-era city that’s ramping up for a special year. Located in eastern Guanajuato, it was named the American Cultural Capital in 2019 in celebration of its cultural heritage. This honor is given by an NGO called the International Bureau of Cultural Capitals, and it goes to just one city in either North, Central, or South America each year. The recognition comes with tourism marketing about the city in dozens of countries around the world, so others will learn about San Miguel de Allende’s many cultural charms and special events.Desktop Version
Where can you find a red fox?
Where can you find a red fox?
The biggest of all fox species, the red fox lives in many different habitats around the world, including forests, grasslands, deserts, and mountains. This fox is in the Netherlands, but red foxes can be found throughout most of Europe, as well as in temperate Asia, North Africa, and North America. A male fox is called a dog, and the female a vixen. A young fox is a kit, cub, or pup. Foxes live in groups called skulks. The red fox"s tail accounts for about a third of its length, and it can serve as a blanket, as well as a flag the fox raises to communicate with other foxes.Desktop Version
Hay, what s up?
Hay, what s up?
Whenever summer turns to autumn, the hay harvest is at the front of farmers" minds. To mark the change of season, we"re ambling through a hayfield full of beautifully rolled bales. This particular pastoral patch is in Jutland, the agrarian mainland of Denmark that "juts" into the North Sea. But if you could—hay presto—snap your fingers and teleport to any hayfield at sunset, you"d surely see similar neat rows of dry, amber-tinted grass.Desktop Version
Big-wave hunters watch Nazaré
Big-wave hunters watch Nazaré
Today"s image captures Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa in action, surfing a record 80-foot wave off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. Nazaré began attracting surfers in the 1960s and has since become a major destination for men and women who want to surf some of the world"s biggest waves. Nazaré"s Praia do Norte (North Beach) is the site of the two latest records for largest wave ever surfed. The previous record was set by American Garrett McNamara on November 1, 2011, when he rode a 78-foot wave here. Then, on November 8, 2017, Koxa set a new record with this ride.Desktop Version
Life in the slow lane
Life in the slow lane
The first humans to settle in this area of what is now southern Italy took up residence in natural caves along the walls of the ravine formed by the Gravina River. Beginning around 9,000 years ago and continuing into the 20th century, the caves were further carved and expanded by these human occupants into an elaborate settlement. It"s now called the Sassi di Matera, a pair of districts in the city of Matera, Italy.Desktop Version
A little bit of Wonderland in New York City
A little bit of Wonderland in New York City
This statue of Alice in Wonderland is found on the east side of New York’s Central Park, near 75th Street. It was commissioned in 1959 by a philanthropist whose late wife had enjoyed reading ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ to their children. "Alice" was first published on this day in 1865 by the English writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. His story of a little girl who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world was inspired by a real girl, Alice Liddell, and it went on to become a classic, inspiring films, television shows, and artwork like this.Desktop Version
Come out of your shell for World Turtle Day
Come out of your shell for World Turtle Day
Make way for the green sea turtle, which you’ll find—if you’re lucky—swimming in tropical and subtropical coastal waters around the world. You’ll notice that despite its name, the green sea turtle’s shell is not green at all. The name comes from the color of its fat, which takes on a greenish hue after the adult turtle starts eating seagrass and algae. Unfortunately, like many other sea turtle species, the green sea turtle is endangered and its population shrinking due to hunting, boat-propeller accidents, plastic pollution, and loss of nesting grounds.Desktop Version
Bay Marker Lookout, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
Bay Marker Lookout, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
It"s an easy, circular trail to the Bay Marker Lookout, but you have to make it under your own steam—sorry, no cars allowed. This is one of the five Sydney Olympic Park Markers, cone-shaped earth mounds installed for the 2000 Olympics in Australia. They are cleverly placed to look from the air like the Australian flag"s Southern Cross. From the ground, the Bay Marker gives a stunning full-360-degree view of Wentworth Common—a large grassy park—and the larger Olympic Park and stadium. You can also look over Homebush Bay (the community and the body of water) to the north. It"s a dramatic melding of urban landscape, the city skyline, the wetlands and greenery, rivers, and beaches.Desktop Version
A Welsh wonder turns 70
A Welsh wonder turns 70
Here on the west coast of Great Britain, we"re enjoying views of the windswept uplands and jagged peaks that surround the small village of Capel Curig in the heart of Snowdonia National Park. Renowned for its rugged and mountainous landscape, Snowdonia is the largest national park in Wales and home to over 26,000 people and even more sheep—the wooly farm animals outnumber people 3 to 1 in Wales. About 60% of the park"s population speak Welsh, one of Europe"s oldest languages, and today they will be wishing this spectacular setting a "pen-blwydd hapus" (happy birthday) as Snowdonia celebrates its 70th anniversary.Desktop Version
It’s NASA’s 60th birthday
It’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
The largest living organism on Earth
The largest living organism on Earth
Today marks the second-ever World Reef Day, an observance created to help focus global attention on the deteriorating health of our planet"s vital reef systems, and also to help marshal efforts to help them recover. Why should we care about the health of ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef, seen in this photo? Because reefs are an easy indicator of how healthy our oceans are. And right now, reefs aren"t doing too well. What can we do? Learn about reefs—not just the dangers that put healthy reefs at risk, but why reefs are such a critical part of Earth"s greater ecosystems.Desktop Version
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
For Christmas Day, we"re taking in the winter views on Mount Khomyak in Ukraine"s Carpathian Mountains. The bright green moss and the red of the fallen leaves pop against the snowy white, as though the forest were transforming into a magical band of Christmas elves. While much of the Christian world celebrates Christmas on December 25, for those who follow Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions—including many Ukrainians—Christmas is still a couple weeks away. Eastern Orthodox Christmas celebrations are tied to the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the more universal Gregorian calendar, so Christmas Day in Ukraine will be celebrated on January 7.Desktop Version
Midwinter freeze
Midwinter freeze
Abiqua Falls in Oregon is a beautiful example of a basalt column amphitheater. Over 90 percent of all volcanic rock is basalt, but only a small fraction of it forms into the hexagonal columns that you see here. When molten lava hits the atmosphere, rapid cooling causes it to contract into these characteristic columns. It"s just part of what makes Abiqua Falls so spectacular.Desktop Version
It s Census Day—make it count
It s Census Day—make it count
It"s Census Day, and we"re marking the once-in-a-decade head count with this populous pic of nesting king penguins in Antarctica. You"re probably wondering: Shouldn"t this crowd of penguins be social distancing right now? A smart observation, but the new coronavirus actually hasn"t been observed in Antarctica at all (it"s the only continent with no cases), nor have birds been shown to spread it. So, we"re giving these avian gatherers a pass, but we encourage you to stay safe at home. With care and patience, we"ll get back to enjoying each other"s company just like these feathered friends.Desktop Version
Staircase of turquoise pools
Staircase of turquoise pools
While it"s snowy and cold in much of the Northern Hemisphere this time of year, December and January are popular months to visit Guatemala, where the skies are clear, but everything is still green and lush from autumn rains. Nestled in the Guatemalan jungle, Semuc Champey is a hotspot for adventurous tourists. Its name means "where the river hides under the stones" in Q"eqchi", a Mayan language spoken by local communities.Desktop Version