http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/policemen-training-india-addario/

D.O.D. Internal Memo
CONFIDENTIAL – EYES ONLY
26 March 2016
Project Medusa
From: Maj. Lowry
To: Gen. Burnett

Update #3

Troops are in good spirits. Training regimens are ramping up to Phase 2. Cardio and upper arm work is essential to the task. Strength coaches arrived yesterday.

Rope climbs on repeat. The Creature’s tendrils have been tested ad nauseam. They appear to be climbable, but it’s risky. Without the samples we can only get from a climb, we won’t know if the Creature has physiological defenses related to the tendrils. It’s a troubling catch 22.

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/owl-snow-canada/

Field Notes – Snowy Owl
Observations: 4 March ’15 – 14 March ’15
Sr. Fellow Research Project
M.L. Nyagg, M.O. Candidate ’16

6 March ’15

7:48am – Spotted a female at 45°31’41.0″N 70°00’54.6″W

Same young female as yesterday. My camp must be near her nest.

I observed her for about an hour shortly after dawn. She must not have caught any food last night, or I suspect she would have retired with the sunrise. She hardly moved for the hour, then she took off and flew to a more open area over by the lake.

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/opera-singers-china/

The Perils of Personal Grooming

The show must go on so don’t muck it up
Getting ready in the back with tucks and pumps
Hair sprayed straight, then mussed and what
It means to be pristine you shouldn’t trust
The attention comes when you strut and stuff
Is that really what a girl who’s tough should want?
I’ve seen you primp and curl and plump. For what?
A few strips of human soul and a couple blunts?
This chick can’t relax, quick touch it up
Blur that line between love and lost
Dreaming of someone’s blood and guts
Waiting for the day that’s not such a rush
Yeah, I get you’re a succubus
Does that mean you have to slut it up?
You could heal or hurt with just one touch
Why waste that gift for a couple bucks?

Who sees you through the blush and such?
And who pays best for a rub and touch?
Do the math, subtract the club’s first cut
Bouncer’s pay, the precinct’s love, plus
The regular with a dangerous crush
Come on, girl, you must be nuts
Screams, moans, thrusts and grunts
Cloven hooves on a disgusting hunt
Spread your wings, bust this dump up
Wreck the palace of the iniquitous
You could feed on hope and love and trust
Use your magic for a lesson and junk
I don’t mean to huff and puff
Yes, it’s grim. I’m serious. But
I know the risk of a crush turned up
This dull life was never enough

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/nasca-plateau-geoglyphs-peru/

Heat ripples rose from the ground in ceaseless waves. In every direction the guard looked, the horizon shimmered with punishing, consuming heat. He wiped his sweaty brow with his hat and looked down the long, straight road.

He thought he saw movement, but it was far away. The asphalt danced in the waves of heat, distorting everything in the distance. It was impossible to tell if the truck was approaching or if what the guard saw was just a classic mirage.

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/suri-feathers-argentina-vernaschi/

Wind swirled in a tiny vortex. Irus stood on the loose rocks beside a patch of scraggly, tough foliage. At first, the vortex was only noticeable as it sucked up dust. Then, a few dark feathers were pulled in by its spinning influence. Soon, more and more feathers were drawn into the twirling tower of air. Irus watched with rapt fascination and wondered from where all the feathers had come.

After a minute, there was a spinning, vertical spiral of feathers dancing in the air. Irus whispered a few words, the traditional words that the shaman had taught him to say when weird things started to happen on his Journey. And just like that, the feathers coalesced into a ball. Then the ball stood and was, instead, a woman in an elaborate outfit.

Irus burst into a big smile.

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This story is a continuation of the story from February 20th. Catch up by reading People of the Storm, then read on below.

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/lightning-bushfire-australia/

Rain would come. It would not be much, but it would come. After the crack of lightning, after the tumble of thunder, the sky would relieve itself of its extraneous water. If the wildfires did not grow too quickly, the rain would put them out.

If they had grown too quickly, and this was likely given the dryness on this particular face of the earth, the rain would not be enough. Continue reading →

This story is a continuation of the story from February 10th. Catch up by reading The Sound of Animals Fighting, then read on below.

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/tiger-cubs-india/

Two hooded figures walked down a dirt road shortly after dawn. Although the term “road” was generous. In reality it was little more than a strip of grass and dirt that had been flattened underfoot. It led mostly north from the small village. A few miles away, it intersected another, equally small village. But the two hooded figures weren’t going that far. They stopped in a clearing just a few minutes after they had set out.

Two teenagers, locals wearing three-quarter length pants and no shirts, watched a pair of tiger cubs circle each other. The orange-and-black cats growled and swished their tails, all potential energy and malice. At a word from one of the teenagers, the larger of the two leapt, paws up and out. The defending tiger responded with the same move, and for a moment they appeared as mirror images of one another. If his business hadn’t been so serious, the shorter of the hooded figures would have found the reaction comical. Continue reading →

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/panda-tree-china/

Beyond the mist lay a whole world. Haoqi had not seen this world, of course. But he knew it existed.

As far as Haoqi knew, no panda had ever seen the world beyond the mountains. But the birds saw it all the time. And when they returned in the summer to the lush green of the peaks, they brought tales of that other world. It sounded grand. Or maybe it just sounded different. And different was, if nothing else, interesting. But only to Haoqi. Continue reading →

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/sally-crab-iguana-galapagos/

Prince’s Proposal 32-6
Issued on the 10th of Galap in our heavenly year 987
For the Parliament’s consideration
On Cavalry Advancement

For twenty years, we have marched across the face of the world as conquerors.

At first, the towns of the Fat Plains cowered when we thundered in from the East. Huts burned, people scattered, and we gained endless fields of grain. We took the Fat Plains, for we were strong.

Our charge did not stop, and soon the kingdoms of the Scattered Plateaus shuddered at our very name. When we came to their walls, we met resistance so paltry as to be almost indistinguishable from acceptance. The walls fell, the people submitted, and our territory doubled. We took the Scattered Plateaus, for we were mighty.

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http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/snow-japan-blue-pond/

This was the third snowstorm in two weeks. A calm, white blanket covered the Company town on the banks of the frozen ponds. In the small, comfortable homes the Company had built ten years ago, hearths roared with warming fires. Smoke rose in thin, uneven columns from chimneys that sprouted from steeply pitched roofs. Along the picturesque pond-front street, most families were just finishing up dinner. Continue reading →