51¶ÌÊÓƵ

While you are considering what you are thankful for, don’t forget nature. During the nine days of the recent firearm deer hunting season, I selected 14 elements to be extremely grateful for while I was in the field. They are:

* Nebraska views and skies that always seem to be endless and spectacular.

* Water, like that which flows in the spring-fed creek, for without water there is no life.

* Trees such as large, old native bur oaks.

* Woodlands, where many species of wildlife roam and call it home.

* Nongame wildlife species such as the dark-eyed junco. All wildlife matters and all things are connected in nature.

* The successful reintroduction of various wildlife species, such as the wild turkey.

* The sights and sounds of wildlife visitors, such as migratory Canada geese.

* The beauty and solitude that nature offers in Nebraska.

* My hunting partners, such as my cousin Mark Hintz, of Gretna. These are the folks who are safe, selfless, tolerant, relaxed, flexible, lighthearted, expressive, honest, caring, generous and, like me, intense and passionate about hunting and conservation.

* To share my outdoor knowledge with younger family members like University of Nebraska-Omaha junior Trystan Whitted of Gretna, my second cousin.

* Nature’s precious bounty and being able to be a direct participant in the conservation and management of wildlife.

* Past generations who homesteaded lands that I hunt today.

* Grasslands, most notably for programs that encourage and enhance grassland habitat.

* Important plants like the common milkweed that thrive on the family farm today and provide superb pollinator habitat and critical habitat for the monarch butterfly.

How about you, what are you grateful for in nature?