Steve Irwin

This weekend we drove up to St. Augustine to spend the long weekend. Nice place. A bit touristy though, taking away from its history, but that is to be expected.

Anyway, Monday morning we stop at a McDonald's for some breakfast before driving back and I heard on the news that Steve Irwin had died, from a freakish sting ray attack.

Wow.

I was shocked. I was a huge Steve Irwin fan many years back. Me and my buddy would love watching this guy's show. He was funny, entertaining, and above all very passionate about what he was doing. He really did love his profession and the animals he spent his entire life studying and protecting.

I stopped watching Steve when he became so popular that everybody was talking about him. I tend to do that. I was a huge Emeril fan before he blew up and started doing his live tv show. I used to like him when he had his solo show, The Essence of Emeril, with no studio audience and was not showboating as much. Whenever an obscure band I like begins to get played on every radio station, I tend to loose interest. So, when Steve Irwin starred in his own movie, I decided to move on.

Being a diver, the news that he was killed by a sting ray was hard to understand. I've been around many sting rays and never felt in any sort of danger. But really, you shouldn't, because they are not dangerous creatures. Steve's situation was a horrible, horrible accident. A one in a million situation.

At least he went doing what he loved. In all honesty, I always figured it would have been a crocodile or a poisonous snake that would have done Steve in (not that I really gave the subject much thought mind you).

I am sure Steve inspired a whole generation of future nature conservationists and brought greater awareness to that which he dedicated his entire life to.

Steve, you will be missed.