Eulogy

Well, lots to say, but before I start writing those other posts, this one's just to commemorate a man I mentioned in a previous post. Steve Irwin. I'm one of those who watched in half-fascination, half-horror, as he handled snakes (and other weird things) with grace and ease, referring to them, of all adjectives, as "beauties". This sounds like a platitude, but he really was one of those people who could make the lesser-known part of the world come alive before the rest of us, and make us (well, me) long to do something... heroic ... "devil-may-care"... for our planet. It wasn't just that he was a naturalist, or was so comfortable around dangerous creatures - there are other exceptional humans who are totally comfortable with snakes and sharks and whatever. What distinguished him was his exuberance and his apparent willingness to 'jump into the ring' in order to educate others about wildlife. I know I will miss the Croc Hunter and all my sympathies are with Terri and Babies Irwin right now.

In the same post, by the way, I mentioned sting rays (appositely with double exclamation marks). It is strange that a creature that looks so placid, almost lazy, can galvanize itself to act so quickly. The one that Fi and I saw was pretty close by us, we almost swam over it ourselves, and when I heard about Steve's death, my mind did the double-take to the coral reef that day ...in horror, for the first time. Now, mingled with the fascination and the awe is a teeny little bit of wariness. Should have been there before I jumped off the boat into the reef that day, but nonetheless, better now than never.