Tri-Guy's handy dictionary

The words we will be working with today are: Zealot, Fanaticism, Lightning, Thunder and Deluge.... followed by Stupidity (with a capital 'S'. Are goal then is to define the word and then use it in a sentence to get a better understanding in context, so to speak.

Let us begin with Zealot. I am liking the definition on Princeton's word web. They define a Zealot as someone who shows, "excessive fervor to do something or accomplish some end." In a sentence; Getting up at 5:00 a.m. this morning for a five hour ride was just one more example that removes any doubt that lately Tri-Guy has been acting a little too much like a Zealot.

Now Fanaticism... I am liking Wiki's idea... "a belief or behaviour involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme cause or in some cases sport, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby." In a sentence.. Tri-Guy's fanaticism clearly obfuscated his judgement of the large black clouds in the humid morning sky.

Nooooo it's not raining..... just spitting out.

Over to Lightning. Again wiki seems to be clear enough..."an atmospheric discharge of electricity accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms." It goes on to say that, " in areas with a high frequency of cloud to ground lightning... lightning causes several fatalities per year, most commonly to people... outside." Our sentence: Around 50 kilometers into his morning ride, Tri-Guy felt the hair his on his arms tingle as the lightning seemed to hit the ground underneath his front tire.

Wiki defines Thunder as... " an electrical storm [comprised] of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder." Our sentence....Tri-Guy nearly went off the road with sheer terror as the thunder clap from the extremely localized lightning made him bunny-hop The Giant about 6 feet into the middle of the frog encrusted road.

Now over to Deluge. Here is Princeton's definition...."to inundate and over fill... usually with water. A large rain." Our sentence... "It was during the deluge, as the water was pouring down his back dimples and into his shoes, that Tri-Guy realized that he was a fair distance from home and it was going to be a very wet and soggy journey back."

I'm not wet... just "glistening" from a long ride.

That brings us to stupidity. Here is wiki's definition..."a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, wit or sense." Our closing sentence..."As our hero's zealotry convinced him that it would be okay to spend 120 kilometers in a deluge of thunder and lightning, he ultimately realized as his fanaticism waned, that it was not his zeal, but his sheer and simple stupidity that gave him the clairvoyance of a tea spoon.

I think I may have been raining at some point.... it was too hard to tell with all the water coming up off of the road.

Here is the weather at Poplar Point at about 8:00 a.m.

And what did we learn from all this boys and girls?

That there seems to be a very fine line between fanaticism and stupidity. If this line were a tightrope at a circus, Tri Guy would be the idiot riding the unicycle.