Oh, my dears. It’s been a long week. And it is Friday night. The sky is dark, the moon is traveling past the stars, and much of the world is readying for bed. Curl up and listen to the tales I weave, until your eyes grow heavy and you slip into slumber, ready for the Dream Maker.

261 miles downstream from Manaus in the middle of the Amazon River is the island of Tupinambarana, covered in forests and accessible only by air or by water. The island has been separated from itself by natural channels, so that it is actually four separate islands, and these channels pulsate through the trees. It is within these channels that Lillywack lived.

Gentle and thoughtful, Lillywack is fascinated by humans. She finds our voices lyrical and mesmerizing and each year crept close to the town of Parintins to listen to the sounds of the Boi Bumba festival.  The Boi Bumba festival takes over the town every year and is based on the folkloric tale of Boi Bumba. There are many different variations of the legend, but a common version tells the story of a rich farmer who gives his daughter his favorite boi (ox) as a gift. He entrusts his ranch hand Pae Francisco to care for the boi, but Pae Francisco’s pregnant wife, Mae Caterina, develops an inexplicable craving for the bull’s tongue. Pae Francisco thus kills this prized beast to satisfy his wife’s need.

When the crime is discovered, adventures ensue as local Indians hunt and capture Pae Francisco in a forest hideout. Brought before the rich farmer for judgement, Pae Francisco faces death for his deed. Desperate to save his and his wife’s lives, Pae Francisco attempts to resucitate the ox. With the assistance of Curandeiros (spiritual shamans), Mae Caterina and Pae Francisco are able to harness the power of the drum beat and bring the ox back to life.  Thus, their lives are spared and all is forgiven.

Each year, 35,00 people gather in an arena to party and participate in the Boi Bumba festival. It is described as “an incredible musical and theatrical experience, a religious procession, a tribal ritual, a giant puppet show, a fairy tale of powerful villains and brave heroes, a folk art presentation, a major party for the audience and an energizing choreography of the galera all at once.”

So you can understand why Lillywack was so fascinated. Each year she crept closer and closer to Parintins, hungry for more lights, more music, and a better view. She crept too close, though, and was discovered by a boatload of fishermen, drinking in their wooden craft in the river. They offered the creature quentão (she wisely refused this hot and alcoholic beverage) and let her watch the festivities with them from the safety of the water.

Intoxicated by what she saw, Lillywack prefers to live amongst humans now, favoring the bright lights and stories of our world than the rich, aquatic quiet of her world. She now resides in the United States, and loves any holiday that involves a parade. There may be tiny Lillywacks growing in every country, for all we know. Or perhaps Boi Bumba will entice another Amazonian creature to come out of hiding.

Sleep tight, my pets. Dream deep.

If you’ve never met a skunk ape, count yourself lucky. Considered the southeastern US’s bigfoot, a skunk ape is a bipedal hominid that emits a most ungodly odor. Floridians have reported skunk ape sightings for decades, and many believe the state’s swamplands are the creature’s preferred habitat. Some say the skunk ape is homicidal, some say it is just misunderstood. Everyone agrees that it smells rotten.

Thus, we are in Florida, investigating some sightings in the Three Forks Marsh Marsh Conservation Area, at the headlands of the St. John’s River. The marsh has a decidedly rancid odor and locals insist that usually the area smells like wildflowers and sunlight. Skunk ape?

Effluvium is a noun defined as an invisible emanation; an offensive gas or exhalation and also an impalpable emanation; an aura. From the Latin effluvium – a flowing out – from effluere. The plural is effluvia.

I am writing this sitting on one of the old trestles from when the Union Cypress Railroad crossed the area and the St. John’s. There is a definite effluvium blanketing the marsh. If it’s not from a skunk ape, there’s something else wandering these lands. If it’s not homicidal, the stench is turning Bubo homicidal.

Oh, my dears. It’s been a long week. And it is Friday night. The sky is dark, the moon is traveling past the stars, and much of the world is readying for bed. Curl up and listen to the tales I weave, until your eyes grow heavy and you slip into slumber, ready for the Dream Maker.

The Kurundu Bird is an elusive and secretive bird. It lives along the coasts of Sri Lanka amongst the cinnamon fields. In the 1500′s, people would grow cinnamon plants specifically to attract Kurundu Birds; not just because their warbles sound like falling rain, but also because every time they beat their soft, suede-like wings they give off a scent like burnt cinnamon.

Late at night their warbles mimic rain through the trees, and a Kurundu Bird near your house is considered a good omen, for rain is good for crops and the smell of cinnamon is said to engender good dreams.

During the power struggles between the British and the native Sri Lankan people in the 1800s, the Kurundu Birds all but disappeared, and the devastating destruction of the coffee plantations by a leaf disease were blamed on the absence of the birds. When the British developed the tea plantations, however, a soft scent of cinnamon would sometimes waft across the fields. Common thought was that the birds preferred the tea plants to the coffee plants, and the years of relative civil harmony that followed.

Kurundu Birds are secretive indeed, and many believe they are the stuff of legends alone. But on a soft warm night along the coast of Sri Lanka you most certainly will smell burnt cinnamon on the wind. Tip your nose to the trees and close your eyes. Imagine the rain falling gently on your face. If you hear the sounds of drops, then the Kurundu are singing to you.

Sleep tight, my pets. Dream deep.

Get yourself interviewed for an online magazine. E-Junkie declared me their Seller of the Week and posted an interview with me about the house, this online-journal of mine, and my penchant for the outre. Humbling for humans, but Bubo’s stalking about as though she’s finally getting a small token of the notoriety she deserves. You can read the interview here: http://www.e-junkie.info/2012/05/seller-of-week-theoddluminary-bizarre.html

I have yet to inform her that her notoriety in the small mammal category is far-reaching. I believe she draws a very solid line between fame for art and fame for terror.

Nonetheless, I thank the good folks over at E-Junkie for the interview and the attention.