December 1, 2004

     
  Adirondack Mountains, New York
  1997
  Maria Stenzel

Winter moves in early on the Adirondack Mountains. Cross-country skiers may find a pre-Thanksgiving snowscape to trek across.

(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, \BAdirondack High,\B June 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 2, 2004

     
  Eden, New South Wales, Australia
  1995
  Sam Abell

A man fishes a calm estuary near Eden, New South Wales, Australia. Eden was famous for its whaling activity in the 1800s.
(Text adapted from the National Geographic book Wild Shores of Australia, 1996)

(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, the National Geographic book Wild Shores of Australia,1996)

December 3, 2004

     
  Orlando, Florida
  2004
  Brooks Walker

\BA Lego dragon rears up in Downtown Disney, with the floating Fulton[$iexcl][$macr]s Crab House moored nearby.\B
[$iexcl][$ordf]From \BDeep South Finale,\B November/December 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine

December 4, 2004

     
  Rainbow Falls, Hawaii
  1982
  Steve Raymer

The yellow golden trumpet plant, a fast-growing climber plant native to South America, has made its way as far as the island of Hawaii, where it is shown here in full bloom near Rainbow Falls.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, \BKamehameha[$iexcl][$ordf]Hawaii\Gs Warrior King,\B November 1983, National Geographic magazine)

December 5, 2004

     
  California
  2002
  Jodi Cobb

A handful of freshly picked chili peppers may look harmless. But some varieties of chilies, like the habanero, have registered over 300,000 units on the Scoville scale, a system used to evaluate the heat of chili peppers.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in,21st-Century Slaves,September 2003, National Geographic magazine)

December 7, 2004

     
  Jerusalem, Israel
  1984
  James L. Stanfield

The Western Wall (shown), as befits the holiest spot of Judaism, is visited daily by the faithful. A sea of men in black suits and white prayer shawls congregate there, praying loudly and piously bowing their heads; women pray quietly in a separate section.[$iexcl]±

(Text from The Three Faces of Jerusalem, April 1996, National Geographic magazine)

December 8, 2004

     
  Bavaria, Germany
  1973
  George F. Mobley

In the 19th century Bavarian royalty built homes in this region out of fondness for its scenery and its placid rural ways. Even today life for the farmer has not changed greatly here horses may still draw a covered wagon on a lonely grey-white lane.
From the National Geographic book The Alps, 1973

December 9, 2004

     
  Cable Beach, Broome, Australia
  1997
  R. Ian Lloyd

Taking its name from the telegraph cable that connected the Australian city of Broome to the island of Java in Indonesia, Cable Beach is renowned for its beauty and surf.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, \BA Bloody Long Way Home: Australia by Bike,\B December 1997, National Geographic magazine)

December 10, 2004

     
  Parrsboro, Nova Scotia
  2004
  Susan Seubert

In Nova Scotia, lobster boats float in Advocate Harbor; when the tide[$iexcl][$macr]s out, they sit on dry land.
From Canada Coast-to-Coast, November/December 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine

December 11, 2004

     
  Iceland
  1998
  Sisse Brimberg

The Hvit River emerges from beneath solidified lava plates in Iceland.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, In Search of the Vikings, May 2000, National Geographic magazine)

December 12, 2004

     
  Adirondack State Park, New York
  1997
  Maria Stenzel

A blanket of snow and an ominous sky cloak Ampersand Mountain. Some disdainfully call the Adirondacks topographic hiccups rather than mountains, but most of the park 46 High Peaks rise above 4,000 feet [1,219 meters].

(Photograph from Adirondack High, June 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 13, 2004

     
  Clarence River, New South Wales, Australia
  1997
  Medford Taylor

Only three hours from Brisbane, Australia's third largest city, lies the Clarence River. Canoeing enthusiasts are attracted to the river's abundance of wildlife and natural scenery.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, A Bloody Long Way Home: Australia by Bike, December 1997, National Geographic magazine)

December 14, 2004

     
  Queensland, Australia
  1997
  R. Ian Lloyd

A herd of sheep grazes in a pasture in Queensland. Australia is the world‘s largest wool producing country, accounting for 30 percent of the world market.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, A Bloody Long Way Home: Australia by Bike, December 1997, National Geographic magazine)

December 15, 2004

     
  St. Petersburg, Russia
  1997
  Sisse Brimberg

Low evening light casts shadows on snow in St. Petersburg, Russia.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, Catherine the Great, September 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 16, 2004

     
  Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
  1997
  Joel Sartore

Why do wolves howl? It's their way of saying, This is our turf or,Where's the rest of our pack?r, perhaps, We've found food.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in,Return of the Gray Wolf,May 1998, National Geographic magazine)

(Text adapted from Return of the Gray Wolf, May 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 17, 2004

     
  Selma, Alabama
  2004
  Brooks Walker

A landmark in the struggle for equality, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, was where civil rights marchers were attacked in 1965.
From Deep South Finale, November/December 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine

December 18, 2004

     
  Bornholm, Denmark
  1997
  Sisse Brimberg

Poppies grow on Bornholm Island in Denmark. Located in the Baltic Sea, Bornholm's main industries are farming, fishing, and handicrafts.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, Civilized Denmark, July 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 19, 2004

     
  East Anacapa Island, Channel Islands National Park, California
  1983
  James P. Blair

On an island that has a Chumash Indian name meaning mirage, the sweeping view from Inspiration Point is no illusion.
From the National Geographic book Our Threatened Inheritance, 1984

December 20, 2004

     
  Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S.A.
  1998
  James P. Blair

Waves of shadowed ridges roll toward sunset in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here the hand of man rests lightly, and visitors can sense some of the spaciousness and tranquility of the forests that once covered most of eastern North America. Like other [U.S.] federal preserves, this one provides a haven for wildlife and for the human spirit. Planning for a national park here began in the 1920s, when extensive logging threatened the Smokies.

From the National Geographic book Our Threatened Inheritance, 1984

December 21, 2004

     
  Salzburg, Austria
  2004
  Bob Krist

Hohensalzburg Fortress, reachable via taxi or funicular, overlooks an ornate, wintry city that gives visitors the sense of being inside a souvenir snowdome, says photographer Bob Krist.
From Salzburg in Winter, November/December 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine

December 22, 2004

     
  Near Sutton, Vermont
  1997
  Michael S. Yamashita

The still of a winter scene is enlivened by the sound of clinging silver bells as horses pull a sled through the woods near Sutton, Vermont.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, Vermont: Suite of Seasons, September 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 23, 2004

     
  Ely, Minnesota
  1997
  Joel Sartore

For the moment, peace surrounds this gray wolf at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. Elsewhere, wolves are hounded by controversy, as livestock owners who nearly eradicated wolves in the early 1900s protest the reintroduction of wolves to public lands.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, The Return of the Gray Wolf, May 1998, National Geographic magazine)

(Text adapted from Return of the Gray Wolf,\B May 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 24, 2004

     
  Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
  1998
  Raymond Gehman

A prairie dog of the endangered subgroup Cynomys parvidens pokes through a heavy Utah snow.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, The Vanishing Prairie Dog, April 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 25, 2004

     
  Siberia, Russia
  1996
  Maria Stenzel

At the heart of traditional Nenets life is the domesticated reindeer. Reindeer, also called caribou, are everything to the Nenets: their food, clothing, shelter, transportation, even their sense of identity.

(Text from Nenets: Surviving on the Siberian Tundra, March 1998, National Geographic magazine)

(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, Nenets: Surviving on the Siberian Tundra, March 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 26, 2004

     
  Near the Headwaters of the Missouri River
  Early 1900s
  Edward S. Curtis

[During Lewis and Clark's voyage they passed] a three-mile-long island, near the mouth of the Grand River, home to some 2,000 Arikara Indians [tribesman pictured in a bear pelt]. A couple decades earlier they numbered 30,000, but two smallpox epidemics had devastated the tribe. Today a mere 1,000 of the tribe exist in all America, mainly living on Fort Berthold Reservation north of Grand River.

Text from the National Geographic book Lewis and Clark: Voyage of Discovery, 1998

December 27, 2004

     
  White Sands National Monument, New Mexico
  1972
  William Allen

Shifting dunes of gypsum, sculpted by the wind, cover White Sands National Monument, New Mexico.
From the National Geographic book Great American Deserts, 1972

December 28, 2004

     
  Craftsbury Common, Craftsbury, Vermont
  1997
  Michael S. Yamashita

In Vermont we know that the Earth spins when the weather comes on hard, usually layered, never glossy or flagging. Bruise-colored, steel-colored, quilted with thuggish thunder clouds or smothering snow clouds
till it lets go for a while, showing the sunny blue or galactic black beyond.

From Vermont: Suite of Seasons, September 1998, National Geographic magazine

(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, Vermont: Suite of Seasons, September 1998, National Geographic magazine)

December 29, 2004

     
  Cherry Lake, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness; Superior National Forest, Minnesota
  1997
  Raymond Gehman

Only a two-day paddle from roadhead, Cherry Lake lies relatively near civilization. Some visitors spend weeks seeking more remote and even more pristine sanctuaries islanded with towering pines and spruce. With few exceptions, Boundary Waters bans the use of motors, sails, portage wheels even canned food. Purists exult in the transcendent attractions of nature untamed, of daily rhythms keyed to the sun's arc and the paddle's dip.

From the National Geographic book American Legacy: Our National Forests, 1997

December 30, 2004

     
  Salzburg, Austria
  2004
  Bob Krist

The muffled whump of snowballs hitting their mark barely disturbs the quiet of a winter’s eve in the square fronting Mozart’s yellow-facaded home.
From Salzburg in Winter, November/December 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine

December 31, 2004

     
  Adirondack Mountains, New York
  1997
  Maria Stenzel

A resident of the Adirondack Mountains area takes a rest from snowshoeing and waits for a view from the cloud-covered summit of Mount Skylight.

(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Adirondack High," June 1998, National Geographic magazine)