I had heard about the Polar Bear Clubs in the Midwest that take a dip in frigid Lake Michigan usually on New Year's Day, January 1st each year. I had always wanted to try this. Call it a middle age crisis or just plain crazy but a few years ago I did it ! Yup i dipped into frozen Lake Michigan three years in a row!! I guess it was one of those things i tried to testify that i was alive and kicking !! Dave came along but just as a spectator...he is much smarter than i am.... hehe !!
How do i describe it?! Well the park district where i participated opened up a section of beach on the lakefront( one year it was so frozen they just cut a hole in the ice and a narrow path to walk out into the water. Luckily i chose a club that just waded into the water a distance out to the waiting firemen lifeguards in scuba suits and then run back. In Milwaukee my brother-in-law did a polar bear dip and they had to fully immerse themselves in offshore and then crawl up on the ice to get out. He said it terrifying and almost impossible to get out of the water back onto the slippery ice without tennis shoes to help you up. But i would NOT have full immersed myself,as i felt putting my head under water was a bit beyond a fun lark of it all and actually a bit risky especially with my asthma!! No way!!
Well I have been swimming in Lake Michigan every summer since i was a little girl, and although you don't stay in the water very long because of the cold temperatures ,even in summer , I actually think it feels refreshingly good!! I use a technique my dad taught me, of splashing the water on your arms and back before you jump in, to get your body used to the cold temps of the water, so it isn't quite as much of a shock to your body. I usually swim the whole bay on Washington harbor when swimming on Washington Island each summer. But i do cheat a bit ,with swim fins and kick board ,as I do swim alone and fear a leg cramp that can be real dangerous. I had one once while swimming in Lake Michigan and it would have been terrifying if not for the kick board to hang on to till it passed. Perhaps the love of the cold ,clean water is a hand me down from my Swedish grandmother Florence, although I never actually saw her swim??!! ( She did however believe fully in "swedish massage" and her doctor, after her death, said it was clear that she actually had massaged herfelf out of numerous small heart attacks as evidenced by the small scars in her heart!!)
Anyway back to MY dip:
This polar bear dip however, was a quick run out to waist high water, then a dip down to my shoulders and a quick run back. The only thing that I was totally unprepared for, was the fact that my feet went numb for the run back ,which was REAL AWKWARD!! It really isn't anything that amazing, as it is all over in about 5 minutes! But i guess just the thought of running into cold water with only a swimming suit on ,in 20 degree temperatures ,is amazing of sorts to some people who can't for the life of them imagine doing it?! There was a crowd that gathered to cheer us "fools" on, which helped give you courage( and of course would make it pretty embarrassing to chicken out too). But anyway, I made it... yup not just one but three years worth of winter dipping!! It was something I had always wanted to do and now I had done it...one of those personal milestones you set for yourself, that are pretty much meaningless to others but a curiosity for you alone.
After the run in and out you go into a heated tent to dry off with your towel and get dressed, although some people actually went home wet!! Two years the outside temperatures were in the 20's, so not bad at all, but one year it was near zero and that was cold!!
It was a lark! It was a unique experience in my life of living in the Midwest. And i believe another testimony about how much i love Lake Michigan and all it offers...even winter "Polar Bear" dipping!! Dave still can't believe I actually CHOSE to do this!! Maybe I am a bit crazy...I admit it now!! Maybe it was the feeling of my uniqueness- my version of momentary celebrity- if only for 5 minutes ...he he!
They still do this every year...... so go and watch some New years day. Its fun!! Maybe
YOU will be crazy enough to join in too!! You never know??!!
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