I bet if Steve Irwin could contact us somehow right now, this is what he'd be saying ...
If only the weather had been better, and we'd been able to do more of our scheduled filming, I mightn't have been bored, and I wouldn't have decided to do the fill-in segment on stingrays ...
If only someone had rung me and suggested an interview that morning ... or a photo shoot ... or something ...
If only the boat hadn't started, and we'd had to wait until the mechanic arrived, I wouldn't have been swimming where I was at that particular moment in time ...
Tragedies are filled with "if only" ...
The Croc Hunter's death has become one of those "where were you when ...?" moments. Just minutes after the news came through here, it was the main topic of conversation in every shopping centre, office, school and street throughout the state ... and later the whole country.
It seems to have struck people particularly hard locally because Beerwah (the home of Australia Zoo) is just a 40-minute drive north of us, so we feel as if we're practically neighbours. There are massive Croc Hunter billboards dotting the main highways and roads between the city and the zoo complex, and all have Steve in one of his unmistakable poses ... It's difficult to realise that all that energy has been stilled.
I think the reason the death of Steve Irwin has moved so many people is because it brings home to all of us how a split-second's inattention or miscalculation or just being in the wrong spot at the wrong time can be fatal. Those words, "if only ..." must be the saddest in the world.
But tragic events like this do have positive effects (although I'm sure his family and friends are looking hard right now to find some). A person in the public eye who has such enthusiasm for life leaves his mark on millions. And while he was by no means the saint he's transmogrified into since his death, and while he was occasionally criticised because his conservationism was often a bit too touristy and hands-on for some, listening to the many tributes from here and overseas, it's clear that our lovely old planet is a better place for the brief years Steve Irwin spent on it.
He raised awareness of the importance of conserving our environment, of protecting our animals and plants and of just enjoying our good fortune in living in this place and time. And he didn't just talk about protecting what he saw as precious, he put his beliefs into action, quietly buying up tens of thousands of hectares of bushland here and around the globe to preserve it from developers.
Vale Steve Irwin.
You can help support the conservation work begun by Steve Irwin by visiting his Wildlife Warriors and joining up: http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/ Be patient ... the site has been offline because of the thousands of people trying to access it. The same is true for the Australia Zoo website: http://www.crocodilehunter.com/australia_zoo/index.html
And the Croc Hunter site: http://www.crocodilehunter.com/
Add these to your Favorites folder so you can pop back in a couple of days.
If the sites are still down, you can send donations to Wildlife Warriors at PO Box 29, Beerwah QLD 4519. (Make cheques payable to Wildlife Warriors.)
Donations can also be made at any ANZ Bank throughout Australasia. Send contributions to the "Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors Worldwide LTD - A Tribute to Steve Irwin" account.
WARNING
If you want to donate to the Wildlife Warriors Fund, please be certain that you only go to one of the official Steve Irwin sites. There are a number of bogus sites popping up that are trying to steal money from kind-hearted people. If you get email requests for donations (which you won't get from the official sites) run your mouse over the URL and then look at the status bar along the bottom of your screen ... if it shows a different URL from one of those above, report it as spam and delete it.
Thank you to everyone who's sent messages of sympathy through to me (as an Aussie) ... I've been touched by the kindness, and I can only imagine how this must help Steve's family when I see and hear how people around the world have reacted to his death.
If you have any comments, click the Add a Comment link and post your thoughts ...
If only the weather had been better, and we'd been able to do more of our scheduled filming, I mightn't have been bored, and I wouldn't have decided to do the fill-in segment on stingrays ...
If only someone had rung me and suggested an interview that morning ... or a photo shoot ... or something ...
If only the boat hadn't started, and we'd had to wait until the mechanic arrived, I wouldn't have been swimming where I was at that particular moment in time ...
Tragedies are filled with "if only" ...
The Croc Hunter's death has become one of those "where were you when ...?" moments. Just minutes after the news came through here, it was the main topic of conversation in every shopping centre, office, school and street throughout the state ... and later the whole country.
It seems to have struck people particularly hard locally because Beerwah (the home of Australia Zoo) is just a 40-minute drive north of us, so we feel as if we're practically neighbours. There are massive Croc Hunter billboards dotting the main highways and roads between the city and the zoo complex, and all have Steve in one of his unmistakable poses ... It's difficult to realise that all that energy has been stilled.
I think the reason the death of Steve Irwin has moved so many people is because it brings home to all of us how a split-second's inattention or miscalculation or just being in the wrong spot at the wrong time can be fatal. Those words, "if only ..." must be the saddest in the world.
But tragic events like this do have positive effects (although I'm sure his family and friends are looking hard right now to find some). A person in the public eye who has such enthusiasm for life leaves his mark on millions. And while he was by no means the saint he's transmogrified into since his death, and while he was occasionally criticised because his conservationism was often a bit too touristy and hands-on for some, listening to the many tributes from here and overseas, it's clear that our lovely old planet is a better place for the brief years Steve Irwin spent on it.
He raised awareness of the importance of conserving our environment, of protecting our animals and plants and of just enjoying our good fortune in living in this place and time. And he didn't just talk about protecting what he saw as precious, he put his beliefs into action, quietly buying up tens of thousands of hectares of bushland here and around the globe to preserve it from developers.
Vale Steve Irwin.
You can help support the conservation work begun by Steve Irwin by visiting his Wildlife Warriors and joining up: http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/ Be patient ... the site has been offline because of the thousands of people trying to access it. The same is true for the Australia Zoo website: http://www.crocodilehunter.com/australia_zoo/index.html
And the Croc Hunter site: http://www.crocodilehunter.com/
Add these to your Favorites folder so you can pop back in a couple of days.
If the sites are still down, you can send donations to Wildlife Warriors at PO Box 29, Beerwah QLD 4519. (Make cheques payable to Wildlife Warriors.)
Donations can also be made at any ANZ Bank throughout Australasia. Send contributions to the "Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors Worldwide LTD - A Tribute to Steve Irwin" account.
WARNING
If you want to donate to the Wildlife Warriors Fund, please be certain that you only go to one of the official Steve Irwin sites. There are a number of bogus sites popping up that are trying to steal money from kind-hearted people. If you get email requests for donations (which you won't get from the official sites) run your mouse over the URL and then look at the status bar along the bottom of your screen ... if it shows a different URL from one of those above, report it as spam and delete it.
Thank you to everyone who's sent messages of sympathy through to me (as an Aussie) ... I've been touched by the kindness, and I can only imagine how this must help Steve's family when I see and hear how people around the world have reacted to his death.
If you have any comments, click the Add a Comment link and post your thoughts ...
posted by Jennifer at 3:00 PM
1 comments
