Nebraskaland

66 Nebraskaland • November 2021 MIXED BAG I feel privileged to be a botanist who travels our diverse state surveying plants, evaluating landscapes and helping conserve our native prairies and woodlands. I also feel privileged to have outdoor hobbies, including gardening, hunting, fishing and photography. Nature is a huge part of my life. Looking back, my interest in nature is due, in large part, to having capable mentors, which Merriam-Webster defines as "a trusted counselor or guide." From an early age, mentors influenced me, taught me needed skills and, most critically, helped me find my path in life. My dad was my primary mentor for hunting and fishing, and his efforts started when I was a mere preschooler. He often took his flock of six children, me being the youngest, fishing in a muddy Elkhorn River oxbow on his brother's farm west of our hometown of Millard. There, he diligently laced my hook with squiggling worms and unhooked my catch of spiny little bullheads and flopping carp. On trips to this same farm during grade school, Dad had the good sense to let me run wild and explore while he visited and played cards. Wandering alone through the brushy riverbottom and oak- wooded bluff allowed me to bond with Mother Nature. After much begging, he also allowed me to tag along on bobwhite hunts in Pawnee County where, to my delight, our Brittany spaniels flushed a covey from nearly every wooded draw and hedgerow. My job was to watch and learn until I was responsible and big enough to shoulder my grandfather's old single-shot 12 gauge. One of my early female mentors was my dear grandmother. I fondly recall spending summer mornings with her in her tree-shaded, old-town Millard backyard picking and savoring ripe, purple raspberries. Those pleasant times with her likely turned me into the avid forager and preserver of wild fruits that I am today. Also among my childhood memories is an early spring escapade on an aunt's farm on the outskirts of town. While cutting across a neighbor's small, grassy field, I came upon a patch of low-growing, white flowers, which years later I realized were prairie dog-toothed violets. When I returned to the house, I asked her why there were flowers in the field. She explained that it was a prairie, a term I had never before heard. My aunt, who passed away more than 25 years ago at the age of 101, then told me that when she was a child, a prairie, lush with wildflowers, covered much of their farm, and that when a renter, without permission, plowed it, her mother cried. I was intrigued by her stories of days gone by. As an aspiring biologist at Wayne State College, my zoology professor became a mentor. He taught especially tough courses that students dreaded. Perhaps our fears stemmed from his knack for challenging us: Failure was an option. Fear aside, his classes taught me to see detail in nature, and to pass, I had to put my nose to the grindstone, spending hours studying in the library and lab. To this day, I still use the knowledge and skills he ingrained. As a mentor, he had a passion for teaching and a dedication to his students. He cared. Beginning my career at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, I found new mentors, or perhaps, they found me. One was a late Nebraskaland Magazine writer and editor who took me under his wing. I was never sure why. At the time, my writing skills were limited, to say the least. In college, I squeaked by with a C- in freshman composition. Maybe he saw potential as he patiently painted drafts of my early articles with red ink. I had great respect for this individual as a person and writer, and worked hard on my writing, in part, to gain his respect. When he retired, he told me I was ready to go it alone. I greatly appreciate his years of guidance, without which I might still be kicking out C- compositions. Today, well along in life and career, I continue to benefit from mentors, including editors who still work to rid me of bad grammatical habits. Luckily for me, my lifetime has been filled with mentors who were willing to invest their time in a kid from Millard. Without them, I wonder where I would be. Gerry Steinauer is a botanist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for 33 years. He also is a regular contributor to Nebraskaland Magazine. A LIFETIME OF MENTORS By Gerry Steinauer

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