As a nature photographer I have had the great fortune to photograph many places that most only experience on TV, books or the web. Of the locations I have visited, none are more special than my travels to Tanzania in 2008 and Kenya in 2010. During each of these visits I felt as if I had stepped into the past... experiencing both the birth of humanity and a glimpse at the mega-fauna that was once the norm rather than the exception.

Today is "World Rhino Day." It is an opportunity to speak out in support of something other than ourselves. This place, East Africa, where humans began their journey as Australopithecus is also one of the last refugium of mammalian history. Home to rhinoceros, elephants, buffalo and the big cats, this place where humanity had its start is also where the last giants are being eradicated by senseless and uncontrolled poaching. Join me by signing the NRDC Petition to put issues like the conservation of the rhinoceros at the front of political and social discourse.

Tomorrow is the first day with my latest crop of students. I began my teaching career twenty-four years ago and assumed it would be a short-term gig. I never experienced "the calling," an intrinsic desire to devote myself to serving children... to teach. Yet, here I sit with less than twenty-four hours to go, and I am excited to return to the classroom.

The Old Birch, Minnesota
Nikon D810 + Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5G

To those who ask, I claim to be a fortunate man. Married to the love of my life nearly three decades, I have been a researcher, traveler and photographer... all of which now fall under the category of avocation rather than career.

Ferns and Fog, Minnesota
Nikon D810 + Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5G

I didn't find teaching, it found me. Many years later, I now know that this thing I do is not "just a job." I have embraced the profession and the responsibility that accompanies the vocation. Undervalued by some and overvalued by others, I continue to search for ways to motivate and inspire.

Forest Fog, Minnesota
Nikon D810 + Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5G

So as I share this gallery of images made during my last week of "freedom," I both mourn and celebrate the passing of summer. The moniker of photographer/naturalist/traveler is laid to sleep for the winter and, with chalk in hand, I am ready to do that thing that I do best.

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