Now in our sixth calendar year
Nolan's 50th
Several of us from the "castle" ventured forth on Saturday to pay tribute to the creator of the PCR, Nolan Canova (aka; The Boss). After all, it was his FIFTIETH Birthday and he was throwing a celebration. We got there and had a great time. For those of you that missed it...well...you should have been there. I rekindled old friendships and created a few new ones. Nolan was very good (though, shall we say, a little tipsy) about making sure that everyone knew who everyone else was. A good time was had by all.
After the party at the hotel the real party began. Several of us ended up at the Egg Splatter where we exchanged Cryptozozoological stories, sang comfortably numb (well, Nolan did anyway), and talked about old times. We even shared some ghost stories as well. Everyone had fun and Nolan even got his cake. In the wee hours of the morning we all left. After all, we had to get home before the sun rose (you know how it is). Let's do it again next year.
Florida Skunk Ape Anyway, later in the day we perilously drove through the oyster beds which honeycomb the area with a local that knew how fast to go to clear the boat's bottom and dangerous stuff like that (we'd have never made it by ourselves) on a journey to the Suwannee River. We were going to be afforded a rare glimpse of the mighty river from the Gulf side instead of the traditional way off US 19.
It took over an hour to get to the river after clearing the "Oyster Obstacle Course." We then began our jouney into the river at idle speed (remember, the no wake rule which is used to protect shorelines and Manatees) up the river. As we plodded along we saw scores of turtles (ah, my favorite animals) sunning themselves on fallen tree trunks all around the edges of the river. I'll tell you one thing; this is a real isolated area of the river with no houses or signs of people anywhere. I'm pretty sure the only humans the animals around here see are all in boats.We continued up the river through a vast Cypress Tree forest with only birds, turtles (ah, did I tell you they were my favorite animals? Yeah, i did), and fish as our guides.
Working around a slight bend in the river I just happened to glance into the forest when something caught my eye. There was a large animal of some sort crouched on the swampy ground. It looked like it was eating some vegetation. As if my thought from the sighting triggered something in the animal it stood up and stared right into my eyes. Though it was a good 60-80 feet from me there was no mistaking the human look on it's face. I was staring at a "Legendary" Florida Skunk Ape. It was huge, at least seven feet tall, and bipedal for sure. I watched it for a full 2-3 seconds before the boat went by a huge Cypress Tree. I called out to the others but it was too late. When the tree had gone by the Skunk Ape was gone, poof, just gone. We pulled the boat over and combed the area near the river but it was swampy and mucky (now you know why nobody lives in this area of the river). We think we found where it was feeding because we found some ripped up plants. Only two of us went ashore.
To this day I think about the encounter. It didn't look ape-like. It looked more like a hairy human being,and very intelligent. Where did it go? I have no clue unless it had some cool ability to meld with the earth or soething like that. I spend lots of time outdoors and have seen bears in the wild so I can tell you it wasn't a bear. What is it? I don't know but it was cool. I hope one day I'll see another one. I guess I'll have to hit the woods more often. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. Next time I'll tell you about something I saw in the water!!!
Supergirl Well that's all for this week. Have a Great Weekend and keep a watch on the skies. There is lots of rain comin' this way!!!
C-ya in seven!
The "Creature"
Now let's continue our little series on "Crypto-Critters." So let me stoke the fire here in the Great Room of the "Castle" and turn on the lightning storm as we turn the page to another "weird" story about the Florida Skunk Ape. It was 1990 and I was on a trip up to Cedar Key for a weekend where several of us went camping on an island in the Gulf of Mexico. There were no lights, houses, or any signs of civilization for as far as the eye could see. We were, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere. But, we were not alone. During the night there was some strange noises around the camp but when we investigated we found nothing there. We figured it to be those furry masked night bandits or a bunch of old opossums. the next morning we were scouring (?) the island and found some bones of what looked to be the remains of an alligator (or ...SSSHHH...a Lizard Man, lt's start the rumor mills now). Near the "gator bones" we saw some large, fresh tracks that were smeared in the mud. I figured they were bear tracks as there are bears all over in the area. I also figured that our nocturnal visitor was probably a bear as well.
Hey, has everybody had a chance to check out the new book featuring everyone's favorite Kryptonian teen: SUPERGIRL. Jeph Loeb and Ian Chuchill have created a new vision of the "Girl Of Steel" that looks to be very interesting. Hell, they already got quite a bit of attention because the book is a complete sellout from the publisher, and it happened in one day. The 1st issue sports two different covers: one by series artist Ian Churchill, the other by Michael Turner, the artist that first showed us his vision of Supergirl in the pages of Superman/Batman. Run out and get a copy of this one folks before they're all gone. You'll be glad you did.
"Creature's Corner" is ©2005 by John Lewis. Webpage design and all graphics herein are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2005 by Nolan B. Canova.