A Lesson In Etymology

One of Paula's Master Gardener friends once told her that winter in North Carolina was much akin to running naked through a freezer - it may be cold, but it's brief.  Even then, it's nice to go to some place warmer.  Put that together with a place where I could learn to kitesurf better, invite some friends and family (and especially if they qualify as both), and it can be a lot of fun.  So it was when we recently visited a warm place in the Caribbean.
Paula found a nice Air BnB that had a view of the ocean, and before you knew it, you could hardly find a place to sit for kites, boards and associated junk.

Ever try to stuff six kites, four boards, harnesses, and four people, including a former Peru missionary in a Dodge Attitude?  Ever HEAR of a Dodge Attitude?

We had several days of lots of wind, but then the Caribbean Wind Machine got unplugged somehow.  It finally got plugged back in - one evening around sunset,

which luckily also had a full moon and clear skies.  So what do you do?  Night Kite by Moonlight!!™ 

Quick!  Do the Clown Car thing and head for the beach!

It was a gorgeous evening!

There were already several people out kiting.  On later questioning, all finally admitted to alcohol intake.  

So, now the lesson in etymology, or the origins of words.  Those guys might have been tipsy, but our guys were clearly lunatics, or persons affected by the moon, which in olden times was thought to be the cause of much deranged mental function.  In this case, I'd buy it.

They quickly got the kites pumped up and ready,

and headed out on the bay, whooping and hollering and jumping.

I admitted to my lack of the expert skill needed for such an adventure and served as ground crew and the guy who would distract the police if they happened by.  Which they luckily didn't.

The participant lunatics admitted that this had been a once-in-a-lifetime kiting session, and even though it was midnight by now, they couldn't settle down or quit grinning for a long time.

 

 

I'm hoping for some more wind, though at a more reasonable hour.  Like daylight. 
Here's hoping that lunacy doesn't affect your friends and family, or that if it does, they have this much fun with it.
Dave & Paula