Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated May 7, 2008
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of
salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
Eight Wheels on my Wagon...
...and I'm still rolling along - or rather The Post is! Happy eighth birthday! Yet some of the more erudite contributors to h2g2 seem to think that the wheels are about to come off this wagon.
You see, The Post is my vehicle for sharing my passion for wildlife from a purely personal point of view. From the crazy antics of the badgers, foxes, squirrels and birds that visit McWebbie's Diner/Bistro, to the more serious wildlife issues around the world.
It is exactly two years this week since I started writing (is it really that long?) and The Post has allowed me to share my thoughts, feelings and opinions on wildlife in general. It has also enabled me to share the privilege of watching wildlife in my garden with others who are not so fortunate. I am not an expert, just an enthusiastic amateur.
I have no idea who might have been reading the columns, apart from the hardy regulars and lurkers, but occasionally I get a message that tells me that there are other people following my scribblings. I hope that one or two will be inspired to take a closer look around them, and then to take more interest in wildlife far from home.
Things that happen at the other side of the world do affect us directly just as we affect life elsewhere. Physicists call it 'the butterfly effect'. The idea that the movement of air, caused by a butterfly's wings, could set off a train of events that affects the weather thousands of miles away is an interesting thought. For example could the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a storm in Texas?
Whether we think of flood and drought, dwindling fish stocks, bee diseases, Avian 'flu' or climate change, ultimately it will affect us all.
The Post and h2g2 have a similar 'butterfly effect' on the many people who are involved, and the many more who are probably the silent majority. It has far-reaching effects that we cannot quantify. It would be a wicked waste, and a disaster for those dependent on the site, if we lost it. The fact that I woke up at 6am with that in mind, and then sat to write this, suggests it matters. Knowledge comes from life-experience not just from formal learning, and sharing that benefits us all.
Every day something is done, said or shared through h2g2 which makes a difference to people's lives, and wildlife too. Surely that is worth respecting.
There are many educated and clever contributors to the Edited Guide but The Post and h2g2 give those who don't have that expertise (including me) a chance to share their experiences which are no less valuable. The university of life is as important as formal learning.
If our efforts make one person look closer, read a book, or watch a wildlife programme with just a little more interest, it will have been worthwhile. Much of what we do is 'planting seeds' in the hope that some will grow, and surely that is part of what Douglas Adams envisaged. Surely he didn't want only 'learned' contributions, but those of ordinary people, too?
Many who write for The Post, the Guide and on the threads, are not as well as they would like. Does that make their contribution less valuable? I think not, but h2g2 is a lifeline to those who cannot get out and about like the rest of us.
They can make us see, and not just look at life. Often we don't see beyond the obvious, whether it is in people or wildlife, and h2g2 changes that. The more we learn, the more we realise that we will never know everything. Yet we can gain from others' experiences. We can also learn that for every 'expert' with one opinion, we can find another who disagrees, and debate is good.
Human nature seems to dictate that in the words of a another song
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
So on this The Post's Eighth Birthday, please don't let the wheels come off h2g2. Oh, and could we try and show more respect for the wonderful world we live in, its precious wildlife, and those less fortunate than ourselves.
Happy 8th Birthday to THE POST and many more of them!
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