My friend told me several months ago she was going to do this Polar Bear Plunge thing on New Year's Day, and I didn't quite believe her. Why would anybody want to leave a nice, warm house on a bitter winter day, strip to practically nothing and jump into the icy river? A desire to display bravado? Boredom with civilization's niceties? An expression of their toughness? A death wish?
I do wish to be supportive, so I read all the accounts and watched the YouTube video ( watch?v=MDblXFRKpp4 ), and thought and thought about it. I even read stuff by Mitch Harper, who has not only done this four years in a row but decided to get into a, um, plunging match with someone from another club who says mean things about our Polars; and Stephen Parker, who just took the video and was smart enough to stay out of the water.
I think I finally understand now.
Those people are nuts!
