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Photo: Delacroix-Like Dance

Photographer caption: A group of cowboys takes to the dance floor at Club Black Castle in Ruleville, Mississippi.

Photo by Rory Doyle (Cleveland, Mississippi); Ruleville, Mississippi

Sonoran Desert (tonda / iStock)

Mesmerizing Places to Watch Flowers Bloom - Sonora Desert, Arizona

Because there’s no better way exalt the end of winter than with millions of tulips, poppies and roses.

Outside of Tucson, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum—home to a cactus garden with native wildflowers and even a butterfly garden—has two flowering peaks, in April and again in early fall (after August's monsoon rains). Still, in this abnormally lush desert, there's always something in bloom. By May, watch prickly pears sprout on the cacti and desert ironwood trees grow soft coatings of lavender flowers.

By Alex Schechter, Travel + Leisure

Smithsonian.com March 3, 2017

Sonoran Desert (tonda / iStock)

Sonoran Desert (Ron_Thomas / iStock)

Sonoran Desert (tonda / iStock)

Submit to our 16th Annual Photo Contest, open now!

Photo: Fishing Net

Submit to our 16th annual photo contest, open now!

Deadline for submissions: November 30

Photo: Long Neck Tribe

Edited photographer caption: The Padaung are a tribal group who have historically lived in the hills on the Myanmar side of the Thai border. Best recognized for their elongated necks, the Padaung women wear heavy brass rings around their necks and forearms.

Submit to our 16th annual photo contest, open now!

Photo: Crocodile Mirror

Photo of the Day: A Former Child Soldier Is Released From the Army

Photographer caption: A former child soldier is released in Yambio, South Sudan as part of a joint initiative to return children to their families. About 300 children were released, but it is estimated that over 19,000 children have been recruited into the armed forces during South Sudan's brutal civil war that started in 2013.

Photo by Stefanie Glinski (London, United Kingdom); Yambio, South Sudan

Submit to our 16th annual photo contest, open now!

Photo: Mother Polar Bear Nursing Her Cub

Photographer caption: I was on an extreme expedition with my brother and daughter in East Greenland where our mission was to document the natural history with dog sleds as our only means of transport. We joined two locals, Izak and Age, from Ittoqqortoormiit on their journey to Jameson Land. Earlier this morning, the wind speed dropped, and the dogs became restless. To Izak, these are the tell-tale signs of a polar bear in the vicinity, and we soon find two sets of tracks. Polar bears amble at around 5km per hour, but it isn’t until the sun sets that a mother bear revealed her cub to us.

Submit to our 16th annual photo contest, open now!

Photo of the Day: Holy Perimeter

Photographer caption: A sadhu takes a wash in the Ganges River and does his morning ritual.