Nature

Making Peace with Thanksgiving

Making Peace with Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday fraught with American history. Let's get it right.

Water, Water Nowhere

Water, Water Nowhere

The historic drought has thrown the Colorado River and its water system into crisis, with federal officials warning that serious conservation is the only way out.

The World’s Glaciers

The World’s Glaciers

Glaciers, one of the world's priceless natural resources, are melting rapidly because of global warming.

The Earth’s Massive Wrinkle

The Earth’s Massive Wrinkle

Capitol Reef National Park encompasses a 100-mile-long fold in the Earth in which 270 million years of history is captured.

Let It Snow (Blizzard, Flurry, Squall)!

Let It Snow (Blizzard, Flurry, Squall)!

Snow is a deep subject. It cools our atmosphere, is a critical source of water in many regions, and creates winter travel challenges.

How Mountains Move

How Mountains Move

Mountains grow, shrink and change shape both slowly and suddenly, and human behavior is changing them in alarming ways.

How to Photograph Really Big Things

How to Photograph Really Big Things

Photographing large landmarks and buildings is always a challenge. Here's how.

Tracking Dinosaurs in the Wild

Tracking Dinosaurs in the Wild

With a pandemic raging and snarled air traffic, it's a perfect time to head into the past and the wild to track dinosaurs.

How to Fight Inflation of Food Prices

How to Fight Inflation of Food Prices

Inflation, health concerns and climate change are at the top of the news. Wise food shopping and consumption can help with all three.

Christmas Gnome Infestation

Christmas Gnome Infestation

Christmas gnomes are on the march this year in stores, DIY projects and on social media. We look at the strong opinions the mischievous little creatures invoke.

Going On A Mammoth Hunt

Going On A Mammoth Hunt

Scientists are stitching together a DNA sequence to produce a living mammoth as well as learning more about the chubby long-haired giant.

Comeback of the Courtyard House

Comeback of the Courtyard House

The pandemic, soaring cost of housing and environmental concerns are renewing interest in courtyard houses, albeit on a miniature scale.

Central Coast Chillin’

Central Coast Chillin’

When you need a break and relaxing activities that are relatively safe in the pandemic, try California's Central Coast.

Smoke and Haze

Smoke and Haze

Western wildfires have blanketed normally pristine landscapes with smoke. What's a photographer to do?

The Booming and Broiling Southwest

The Booming and Broiling Southwest

The American Southwest is the fastest growing region in the United States, but also the hottest and most arid.

For the Love of Arches

For the Love of Arches

Arches National Park in southeastern Utah is being loved to death, and the park service is scrambling to manage the attention.

Japan’s Golden Pavilion

Japan’s Golden Pavilion

The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan, is evidence of Japan's aesthetic balance of restrained simplicity and bursts of opulent grandeur.

Yellowstone Roars Back To Life

Yellowstone Roars Back To Life

As the pandemic wanes in the United States, the crowds have returned to Yellowstone National Park.

Mining Towns of the Old West

Mining Towns of the Old West

Colorful Western mining towns where the ancestors of many Americans once flocked to seek their fortunes have become upscale tourist meccas for outdoor adventure.

Saving the Great Salt Lake

Saving the Great Salt Lake

The Great Salt Lake, along with other saline lakes worldwide, is drying out. Preserving and restoring won't come cheap.

A Classical Chinese Garden

A Classical Chinese Garden

Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Ore., was built by artisans from the garden city of Suzhou, China, to demonstrate the basic elements of Chinese gardens.

Duke’s Beautiful Campus, Academic Excellence and Mixed Legacy

Duke’s Beautiful Campus, Academic Excellence and Mixed Legacy

Duke University's Gothic architecture and academic excellence alongside its mixed historical legacy makes it a microcosm of the American South's historical dilemmas.

Japan’s Poignant Cherry Blossom Season

Japan’s Poignant Cherry Blossom Season

Japan's annual cherry blossom season conveys a timely message of renewal, transience and death in a year of global tragedy.

Peace Village

Peace Village

We take a look back at a remote Chinese village that is now a crowded tourist destination.

Apocalyptic Outing

Apocalyptic Outing

We take a (semi)-humorous look at what a Saturday afternoon outing is like in the fall of 2020.

Nature Trails

Nature Trails

Urban nature trails are more important than ever as other exercise and recreation venues have been closed.

Inside a Chinese Painting

Inside a Chinese Painting

Take a quick break and enjoy spectacular scenery on a boat trip down the Li River near Guilin, China.

Springtime in the Rockies

Springtime in the Rockies

It's springtime in Utah's Rockies. Photographer Forrest Anderson captured the stunning scenery.

Private Paradises Amid Adversity

Private Paradises Amid Adversity

Sheltering at home has been accompanied by an outpouring of creativity that can help us cope with adversity and shape our future.

Return of the Victory Garden

Return of the Victory Garden

A resurgence of gardening has accompanied sheltering at home during the pandemic, invoking victory gardens of the two world wars.

Home is a Destination, Too

Home is a Destination, Too

Need a five-minute stress reliever while sheltering at home? See these photos of my beautiful mountain village of Mapleton, Utah.

Green Thumbometer

Green Thumbometer

Gardening can be a good way to relieve stress and get fresh air during the coronavirus shutdown. Here are a new tool and tips.

Lighthouse, Tide Pools and Seals

Lighthouse, Tide Pools and Seals

Yaquina Head, Ore., has one of the Pacific Coast’s premier tide pool observation sites, a lighthouse and seal and seabird colonies.

Meditation and Japan’s Rock Garden

Meditation and Japan’s Rock Garden

Meditation is the theme of the Ryoanji dry rock garden. Find out why the garden inspires meditation and how to meditate.

Utah’s Rock Stars

Utah’s Rock Stars

Utah's spectacular scenery harbors one of the world's most complete and diverse dinosaur fossil records.

Eating Food in Season

Eating Food in Season

Eating locally grown food in season is a great strategy for weight loss, good health, saving money and protecting the environment.

Giant Buddha, Giant Hall

Giant Buddha, Giant Hall

An emperor built a giant Buddha to unify his struggling country, as the center of a network of Buddhist temples throughout Japan.

The River That Keeps on Giving

The River That Keeps on Giving

The mammoth Colorado River is the lifeblood of the southwest United States, supplying water and power for cities and agriculture.

Japanese Design Past and Present

Japanese Design Past and Present

Architect Kengo Kuma's village at the Portland Japanese Garden blends modern architecture with traditional Japanese design.

Dolls with Souls

Dolls with Souls

Japan's magnificent tradition of fine doll making is a miniature window into the nation's culture and history.

The Elephant Needs the Room

The Elephant Needs the Room

Despite tough bans on ivory trade, Africa's elephants are declining in numbers because of poaching and trafficking of illegal ivory.

Visit Utah’s National Parks

Visit Utah’s National Parks

Utah state and local governments and organizations are chipping in to keep national parks operating during the government shutdown.

How is Utah Changing?

How is Utah Changing?

The Utah population boom, fueled by economic growth and an image of a healthy, family-friendly state, is expected to be long-term.

Katsura Villa’s Enigmatic Design

Katsura Villa’s Enigmatic Design

Modernist architects admired Katsura Villa as the pinnacle of Japanese architecture and design. It is more complex than they thought.

Green thumb challenged? Grow rocks

Green thumb challenged? Grow rocks

Okay, so you don’t have green thumbs. We don't either. Not to worry. Rock gardens are the next best option.

Fire! Is this the new norm?

Fire! Is this the new norm?

Are record wildfires the new norm in the West? As fires threaten homes and communities, here are answers to questions about them.

Making a Japanese Gate

Making a Japanese Gate

We were charmed by the beautiful gates that are the entrance to homes in Kyoto and Nara, Japan, so we decided to make our own.

Retreat by Design

Retreat by Design

What makes a retreat restful and soul restoring? A former imperial retreat in Kyoto, Japan, gets retreat design just right.

Garden in the Desert

Garden in the Desert

One of the Intermountain West’s most beautiful gardens is at the Point of the Mountain between Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah.

Feathers of a Bird

Feathers of a Bird

Of all creatures, only birds have feathers. These delicate, sophisticated, beautiful structures perfectly combine form and function.

Elements of a Japanese Garden

Elements of a Japanese Garden

Imagine you're sitting in Los Angeles traffic on a hot day. Take a break and head for a cool green oasis - Suihoen Japanese Garden

The Wasatch Back

The Wasatch Back

The Wasatch Back is the chief year-round playground for residents of the booming Wasatch Front in Utah.

Timpanogos Cave

Timpanogos Cave

A wierd and wonderful cave system holds the heart of Mt. Timpanogos, near Provo, Utah.

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park in southwestern Utah is an adventure for all seasons.

The Chesapeake’s Shrinking Isle

The Chesapeake’s Shrinking Isle

Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay is rich in history but shrinking in land and population.

Salt Water Cure, Change of Scene

Salt Water Cure, Change of Scene

Changes in the air, the light and the sounds all add up to a new perspective.