Families play on the snow-covered slopes at Barnett Demesne Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland
© Stephen Barnes/Alam
Happy Boxing Day!
In some older traditions in the western world, December 26 was the day nobles and other property owners offered gifts to servants and employees. It's not clear if 'boxing' refers to the boxes that held these presents, or to donation boxes customarily set up for the poor on the holiday of ‘Boxing Day’—nor if these were so much gifts as reminders of one's place on the feudal social ladder. Nevertheless, this holiday on the day after Christmas remains rooted in Christian societies.
Gentoo penguins near Danco Island, Antarctica
Weather Station and Fichtelberghaus Hotel on Fichtelberg Mountain (1214m), Oberwiesenthal, Ore Mountains, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany
Glass igloos at the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort in Saariselkä, Finland
Beach huts covered in snow in Brighton and Hove, England
Crater Lake in Oregon, USA
Diamond Beach across from Jökulsárlón, a glacier lagoon in Iceland
Winter in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA
Canada lynx in Montana, USA
