The 2020 Happier Place Calendar

The 2020 Happier Place Calendar isn’t just filled with 13 pretty nature photos. Every month offers words of inspiration. And 11 of the 12 months feature holidays and occasions for joy and appreciation.

Why do only 11 of the 12 months feature holidays and other special occasions? We couldn’t find any official holidays, major UN days, or quirky fun days worth mentioning for August. We have a theory: it’s because all of August is “Outdoor Fun Month” also known as Yes, Let’s! month. Yay, August!

GO straight to purchasing the Happier Place 2020 Nature Photography Calendar.

2020 Happier Place Calendar Dates

For the 2020 Happier Place Calendar, we decided to mark many more “special days” than in the previous years. As in the years before, the calendar marks the usual US American federal holidays (e.g., 4th of July, Labor Day) and the common Western holidays (e.g., Christmas, Hanukkah) and some popular fun days (e.g., April Fools).

But we thought we could do more with our calendars to help make the world a happier place. So we added a few more special days: to open all of our minds to other cultures by honoring more international religious holidays (e.g., Holi, Eid ul-Fitr), to draw attention and inspire action on even more UN holidays (e.g., Peace Day, Oceans Day, Earth Day), and to inspire even more shared fun on classic and newer Fun Days (e.g., Pi Day, May The Fourth).

Side Note: First Day of the Week

One more note on dates: Every year, there is that moment of hesitation if we should follow the American structure of starting each week with Sunday, instead of starting them with Monday as it is done on calendars in Europe, Australia and parts of Asia. After all, Saturday and Sunday are called the weekEND, making Monday the beginning of the week, which is officially the international standard ISO 8601. But since most of the visitors to our website live in North America, we chose that set-up again. Want to nerd out more? Here’s a world map indicating the first day of the week in different countries.

By the way, we really couldn’t find a convincing reason why the calendar week starts with Sunday in the Americas (and some other parts of Asia and Africa) except that it may be for ancient religious reasons as it’s common in the Judaic, Islamic, and some Christian traditions.

2020 Happier Place Calendar Images

Each month takes you to a different place in nature. Some are in the so-called “Great Outdoors”. Others are in the middle of a big city. Some photos give you a chance to closely observe an animal or a plant. Other images are so vast, they’ll let your mind travel through the distant landscape.

All photos were taken by Luci Westphal in Utah (Canyonlands), Alaska (Kenai Peninsula), Colorado (Fort Collins, Prospect Ponds, Lory State Park), North Carolina (view from Blue Ridge Parkway), Florida (Honeymoon Island, Sand Key), New York (Brooklyn Bridge Park and Manhattan skyline, Prospect Park), and Germany (Tiergarten in Berlin). The back page lists all the locations for the photos – except for the cover photo. That shows a Limpkin, also called Crying Bird, squawking up a storm in Paynes Prairie, Florida.

Traditional and Unique Uses of a Monthly Wall Calendar

Unfolded along the black metal wire, the calendar measures a pretty standard 17 x 11 inches, making each photo and calendar page 8.5 x 11 inches each. You’d think most people hang this kind of a calendar on a wall. But we’ve also seen people use magnets to attach their Happier Place Nature Photography Calendar to the refrigerator. Conveniently, this year’s calendar is lighter than last year’s.

As far as we know, most customers use the annual Happier Place calendar in the more traditional sense. They add events of the future, like appointments, birthdays, and vacations. Can we just stop here for a moment: aaaaahhhh vacations…! Aren’t those the best?

Personally**, we use a Happier Place calendar every year as a Fun-Was-Had Calendar. We highly recommend this because it helps put a little extra focus on making time for good times in nature.

Related: A Happier Year with a Fun-Was-Had Calendar (vs. a To-Do List)

We’ve heard of one customer taking the calendar apart and framing her favorite photos (instead of using the actual calendar). She even switches out the photos in the frames, depending on her mood or season. Considering how high the quality of the printing is, why not?

Buy a Calendar

SALE: We’re publishing this post in time for the wacky “Black Friday to Small Business Saturday to Cyber Monday” long weekend. We humans at Happier Place participate in the by-now-traditional Opt Outside – so we won’t be fulfilling orders that day. Of course, you can still place an order on Friday. But Saturday, Sunday and Monday you can save 19% on your entire order by using coupon code CYBER19. And if you got our recent newsletter, than you also have a coupon code for an additional 20% off the 2020 calendar. What? But then the calendar costs less than $10?! Yup, we told you this is a wacky time.

Related: What is #OptOutside? And what does it have to do with Black Friday?

Let’s Inspire Each Other

Do you have a favorite month? How about a favorite day? If you use wall calendars, where do you hang them, what do you write on them? Do you add your own birthday to a calendar? Did you get this calendar already – or one of the previous Happier Place calendars? How much do you love it?
Or maybe YOU have a question for us? Ask away!

Please leave an answer or whatever you’d like to add in the comment section below.

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** Yes, there are still two real people (Scott and Luci) and one dog (Whiskerblower aka Miss Whisk aka Whiskey Dog) behind the Happier Place endeavor.