A sad, sad loss for the world

This morning I got a message from Tom, and he wasn't his usually "chipper, mock Gene while leaving a message" self. He very downtroddingly said, "Have you heard the news? If not check out www.cnn.com and mourn with me." My mind began to race....who was he talking about? There's very few people in the media we admire or appreciate (usually, rightfully so). I thought it had to be "The Bark", our affectionate name for The Price is Right's Bob Barker because he is quite old. It was always Tom and my goal to see the Bark live. Well, I hurried Renee through her email to get the full story. And when CNN's webpage came up, I soon saw that it wasn't Bob Barker for whom I needed to mourn.

It was for another of Tom and my beloved tv icons, Steve Irwin, commonly known as The Crocodile Hunter. We would spend hours in college watching his shows, laughing at his antics, but most of all learning to speak with cool Australian accents, which we could do quite well. We taped an all day marathon once and would watch it just to laugh and talk with an accent. One of our favorite episodes was when Steve went to Africa and met his first "spitter" aka spitting cobra. We learned that when you meet a spitting cobra it will rise off the ground like a regular cobra, but then it spits its venom into your eyes. Well, Steve learned this the hard way and started wearing sunglasses to block out the flinging serpent's toxins.

This was tragic as Steve was very passionate about animal conservation and what I always loved about him besides his cool catch phrases like "Crikey!", "What a ripper!", "What a beaut!", and "I'm in her terr-i-tree" (Australian for territory) was his passion for everything in his life. Through his show you could see his passion for saving wildlife, relocating crocodiles, but most of his love for his family. He will be missed by all of his viewers but also his wife Terri, their son, Bob, and daughter Bindi Sue (named after Steve's favorite crocodile and dog).

How did it happen you may ask? Well if you don't have time to check out the CNN article, here's a summary. Steve went to the Great Barrier Reef to film a show and while he was diving and going along the bottom of the ocean, a sting ray was spooked and its barb went through his heart. They said it was a freak thing. Even Steve couldn't survive such a "death blow." But he died doing what he loved, and Steve always said he didn't want to be remembered as "that crazy bloke who finally got eaten by a croc." Well Steve-O you got your wish and our thoughts and prayers will be with your family and friends. Thanks for all of the many lessons you taught us, and to keep this blog upbeat (and me from being any sadder) let's put those lessons in a top ten list. Enjoy.

10) Wearing kakhi every day, any day from head-to-toe is hip.
9) Sunglasses block out most of the venom from a "spitter".
8) You and 9 other guys can tackle any size croc...and you'll always dive for the head.
7) Eventhough others said your movie wasn't a blockbuster, it was still awesome because you were there. (Whoever presently has my video, could you please return it?)
6) Wombats and koalas can pack quite a wallap.
5) When catching a roo, hold it by the tail but beware the fearsome kick.
4) If a pinned croc starts a death roll, let it go.
3) "Crikey!" is a great way to start or end any sentence.
2) Complimenting a snake by saying, "Isn't she a beaut?" makes any snake calm and passive.
1) It's possible to outrun a 20 foot croc and push mow simultaneously.

Rest in Peace my friend. I'll use my towel in memory of you this week (eventhough it clashes with our bathroom.)