Visitors at th bottom of Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis in June 2024.

A man fishes at the bottom of Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis.

Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis on June 23rd 2024 after days of rain.

Reflections at downtown Minneapolis's Peavey Plaza.

Reflections at downtown Minneapolis's Peavey Plaza.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden has long served as one of Tokyo’s largest and most historically layered urban parks, transitioning from an Edo-period feudal estate to an Imperial garden before opening to the public after World War II. This March 2023 view reflects the quiet season just before cherry blossoms begin to emerge, when the garden’s network of footpaths, streams, and wooded slopes show more of their underlying structure.

Morning light filters through leafless trees onto a narrow waterway lined with timber edging—an example of the garden’s blend of traditional Japanese landscape elements and early modern design introduced during its redevelopment in the early 20th century. In the distance, visitors walk among early-blooming shrubs with Shinjuku’s skyline rising beyond the treetops, underscoring the park’s role as a transitional space between dense city life and calm, curated nature.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden offers a calm, expansive contrast to the dense urban core that surrounds it. Originally part of a feudal estate in the Edo period and later a botanical garden under the Imperial Household Agency, Shinjuku Gyoen opened to the public in 1949 and remains one of Tokyo’s most significant landscaped parks.

In this March 2023 photograph, the garden’s central pond reflects late-winter trees and early seasonal light, while the tiered silhouette of the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building rises prominently in the background. The juxtaposition underscores how Shinjuku Gyoen functions as a large green refuge within one of the busiest districts in Tokyo, blending historical landscape design with the city’s modern skyline.

A bright magenta-and-red “PARK” marquee glows above 5th Street in downtown Minneapolis, its arrow pointing toward one of the city’s long-running parking ramps. The large mirrored surface on the right captures a full duplicate of the sign, emphasizing the heavy neon presence that once defined the downtown entertainment and retail district. Signs like this were installed in the mid-20th century as automobile traffic surged and developers converted older commercial buildings into multi-level garages to serve Nicollet Mall, the Gateway renewal area, and the growing high-rise core.

At street level, the rows of construction barrels and lane closures reflect Minneapolis’s ongoing cycle of roadway and transit upgrades — a pattern familiar in this part of the city as utility work, sidewalk rebuilds, and streetcar-era infrastructure get modern replacements. Even with the constant change, the surviving neon parking signs remain some of the most recognizable visual anchors of the nighttime downtown streetscape.

A park in South Minneapolis.

Mill Ruins Park near downtown Minneapolis with Canadian wildfire smoke.

Around 40 were arrested after participating in a annual nationwide "Noise Demonstration" calling for the abolishing of prisons and standing in solidarity with those incarcerated.

Around 40 were arrested after participating in a annual nationwide "Noise Demonstration" calling for the abolishing of prisons and standing in solidarity with those incarcerated.

Around 100 in Minneapolis joined a NYE nationwide call for protest supporting those imprisoned by the state. After the jail was spray-painted Minneapolis Police, State Patrol, Golden Valley PD, Hennepin Sheriffs, & state aerial surveillance descended on the area to arrest dozens.

Signs on a tree located near the entrance to the Powderhorn East homeless encampment in South Minneapolis. The encampment was cleared by Minneapolis Police on July 21, 2020.

Elliott Park in Downtown Minneapolis. One of my favorite parks downtown because of the skyline that's visible from the soccer fields.

Gold Medal Park sits along the Mississippi River near the Mill District in downtown Minneapolis, named in honor of the city’s flour-milling heritage and the iconic Gold Medal Flour brand. Designed by landscape architect Tom Oslund, the park opened in 2007 as part of the Guthrie Theater redevelopment and features a distinctive spiral mound at its center offering views of the river and city skyline. The illuminated park sign and tree-lined paths create a serene nighttime atmosphere against the industrial and cultural backdrop of the historic mill area.

The illuminated sign for Mill Ruins Park glows at night along the Minneapolis riverfront, where historic flour mill foundations meet modern development. Behind it, a portrait mural and new residential buildings rise near the preserved remnants of the city’s milling heyday.

A line of London plane trees borders the Mall in St James’s Park, one of the oldest of the Royal Parks in central London. Planted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these trees are known for their resilience to urban pollution and distinctive patterned bark. The park, established in the 1600s and redesigned by John Nash in the 1820s, forms part of the ceremonial route between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. On mild spring afternoons, this shaded corridor provides a quiet refuge for pedestrians and city dwellers.

An aerial view of Alameda Central, Mexico City’s oldest public park, established in 1592 and redesigned in the 19th century in the European style. The white semicircular monument visible on the left is the Hemiciclo a Juárez, erected in 1910 to honor President Benito Juárez. The park’s grid of walkways, fountains, and neoclassical sculptures serves as a green centerpiece of the Centro Histórico, surrounded by civic and cultural landmarks like the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

A beautiful rainbow at the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. We camped here and woke up to this during the sunrise.