Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Welcome Home, Mrs. Crocidile Hunter. Terri and Bindy Irwin in Corvallis Today

Welcome back to Oregon, Terri Irwin. We love you. We are proud of you.

Terri Irwin, Steve Irwin's wife, and children, will be in Corvallis today, to sign over a million dollars to Bruce Mate, another local hero, for whale research. Bruce Mate has been a hero of mine forever for his research efforts on whales. Steve and Terri Irwin and their children have also been heros of mine.

Terri Irwin is originally from the Eugene area and once upon a time, helped cougars, which takes a lot of courage in rural Oregon. She went to Australia on a trip and there met Steve, her future husband, before he was ever famous.

I had heard about the Croc Hunter series before I knew how to even use a computer, in the late 90's. I didn't have a TV either, so I had never seen his show, just bits about him on regular news. I didn't know he was married. I was still in the mental health system. I wrote him a fan letter with poem (below). I suppose the end of the poem was prophetic of his end in some ways. I did get a glossy photo in the mail months later in response. Later on, I found out he was married, to an Oregon woman, no less, and I was embarrassed.

When Steve Irwin died, it took my breath away. There are others who could have died and the earth would never have felt it. The earth felt the passing of Steve Irwin. I cried and I didn't even know him. He was so full of life and passion.

Then, Bindy his daughter stepped up and into his shoes. I felt for her. This was just a child. People criticized her mother for letting a child behave so maturely. I believe it was meant to be and no one should be judging Terri Irwin. I believe the manner she handled herself after her husband's death, in the public eye, was very graceful and couregeous. I believe she did Oregon proud. When Steve Irwin's father was mourning his sons death, he said something to the affect that the animals had lost their warrior. It was a great tragedy.



My Maniacal Animal Man

That dude on Animal Planet
Has hooked up to one awesome gig.
He’s all the rage, on national TV!
His insanity has made him big.
He confronts herds of charging elephants,
and follows really poisonous snakes
He hangs out with Gila monsters.
In his show, there are no retakes.
He swings on jungle vines
while pounding on his chest.
Half a dozen baby orangutans
are hanging off his vest.
I want to swing through wild jungles
and get paid to do just that.
I want to hang out with man-eating crocodiles
and play with fierce jungle cats.
I want to bind up my own wounds
when I’m accidentally mangled
or when I fall a thousand feet
off some cliff from which I’ve dangled.
I want to do all th0se things that he does,
and not hear my psychiatrist yelp.
I don’t want locked up in some cold, bare room
and be told It’s me who should seek help.
That Animal Planet guy is just cool!
But, I’m afraid if he lived here,
in this boring human zoo
where we lock up all our fears—
He might go stark raving normal.
He might sit around at Starbucks talking
while we all sit at home
with nothing on TV worth watching.
So, when you meet that last deadly reptile
on one of its really bad days,
I bet you’ll be revved to your last millisecond.
I wonder, ‘How much does that pay?’
Hey mate,
you’re crazy as hell!!
so our brainwaves are perfectly matched!
Let’s swing together through howling jungles
with absolutely no vines attached!

In other news, I see that Obama is asking his donars to help Hilary Clinton pay off her campaign debt. I know some will see this as a political move. I see it as an act of kindness, reconciliation, and of decency. It makes me happy to even think about it.

In yet other news, when I picked up a mother cat in Crabtree, to be fixed this morning, the woman told me of a huge problem house with over 50 cats nearby. Inside I sighed, resigned to the never ending battle.

2 comments:

  1. I am very impressed and moved by your blog, the cat stuff, not the political stuff. You are an amazing person to do what you do. I found your site when I typed "dumped cat" in "search". I was annoyed that my perfect cat universe (3 indoor; 1 semi feral outdoor) was shaken up by the appearance of another semi-feral, but neutered, female. Crikey. Your blog, however, made me realize how insignificant one freakin cat is compared to the hundreds you have helped and how totally selfish I was being. Thank you for my discovery. I'm not religious but god bless you if there is one. From Kay in Sag Harbor NY.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, catso303! That is one lucky semi feral stray, to have chosen you.

    ReplyDelete

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