Saturday, July 12, 2014

Super Size Moon

The full moon tonight plus the ones in August and September will all be super sized moons.

Nuts and bolts...

The scientific term for the phenomenon (super moon) is "perigee moon." Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ("perigee") about 50,000 km closer than the other ("apogee").  Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon's orbit seem super sized and brighter.

This coincidence happens three times in 2014. Amazing!

Long ago and far away, on a tiny island I sailed to hundreds of times...

It was the monthly Full Moon Party at the Bomba Shack, located on a Caribbean Beach.

bomba shack full moon party dates
They don't call it a shack for nothing...


The thump of the band was as fast as a rapid heartbeat. The barefoot crowd on the sandy beach were laughing and dancing, as the bass rhythms pounded through rum soaked bodies. Rasta men with very long knotty dreadlocks carried old cardboard boxes like the type used for a case of canned sodas, but now repurposed to display their bounty from the mountains, the magic 'shrooms.

A hundred yards away, Whito tended an open fire with a big cauldron hung over it, full of 'shrooms and boiling water. At midnight the magic tea would be handed out for free for all who came calling. 

Off duty island police were getting paid to work the party. They ignored the 'shrooms, the acrid odor of burning herbs and the merry drunks stumbling, laughing and dancing. The band cranked up the volume as loud as possible, not having a sound engineer in their repertoire, they simply settled for volume over quality.

Rather than harass the crowd, the police focused on occasionally keeping one lane open down the public road that ran parallel to the beach, splitting the party down the middle. Revelers would spill out into the road, then when a car wanted to pass, the officers could slowly part the crowd while walking ahead of the car. Once the car passed the party, the road would disappear again as the two legged wildlife swelled out over it.

One fool moon, the mighty Bomba thought speed bumps would be handy to prevent any party goers from getting hit by cars. He had his crew shovel sand all day to make four nice neat speed bumps across the road out of sand and water. 

Sure it briefly slowed down cars as they stared at the huge lumps of wet sand spread across  the road then gingerly drove over them and through them. I guess engineering speed bumps is not Bomba's long suit after all. The cars and trucks driving over the nice neat speed bumps eventually flattened them out until the road was completely covered in sand. 

And the band played on...



The Bomba shack by day sits nearly empty because islanders are getting ready to mob the shack and beach soon after the sun sets. At that point it is standing room only with people taking up every square inch of sand, dancing to the band, waiting for the full moon to rise, waiting for the 'shroom tea at midnight. 

Life is goof!



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SHOP AMAZON
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1 comment:

  1. I'm pretty sure I left more than my Bra there one night....
    I used to take the ferry over from St. Thomas, Stay at Sebastians Party at the shack...Oh my youth how I long for it now!! Now I'm in bed by 10!

    ReplyDelete


Life is goof!