As loosely told to me by my third sister, Katie.
Her: It was way colder than I thought it would be. If I had known it was going to be that cold I probably wouldn’t have done it.
Me: Did you get pictures?
Her: Um, yes. But the picture is actually of the second time I went in. The first time I went in by the time I was thigh-deep I couldn’t move very fast (probably due to hypothermia), but I kept going and then dipped my head under water. When I came out I couldn’t find Bobby. For some reason he walked all the way around to the other side and didn’t get a picture. So I went back in…. the picture is of the second time I went in, but I didn’t dip my head that time.
Her, still: Then I made Bobby hold up a blanket against a trailer so I could change. It was like 20 something degrees and there were men and little boys walking around, but I had to get out of those clothes.
Her, continued: Then, I ran into a friend from college who said, “It was like 90 degrees in that dressing room. I was soooo hot!”
Dressing room? Dressing room? What dressing room?
Friend: “The one in the trailer.” (You know, the trailer that Katie used as the fourth wall of her make-shift, open-air dressing room.)
Here are Katie and Bobby, her hubby, after the Polar Bear Plunge. (If you use your imagination, you might think they were standing near the Eiffel Tower.)
Me: Will you do it again next year since now you know it’s so cold?
Her: Probably. I think it’s probably a lot like childbirth although I’ve never had any kids. Johanna (our eldest sister) says you forget the searing pain and that’s why you do it again. I already can’t remember quite how bad I felt afterward so I’ll probably end up doing it next year.
Me: Are you glad you did it?
Her: YES! I have a feeling my year is going to turn out very adventurous!
(c) 2016 Leighann Marquiss
Comments (10)
Funny story…your sister sounds sweet! I’m sure next year she will remember one thing…the very hot trailer to change her clothes after the plunge!! Funny that your wrote about this today… I just read and looked at pictures in my local paper of the polar bear plunge in the Chesapeake Bay that happened over the weekend. Thought about doing it next year for about a split second….then said, “Nay, I can live without that type of thrill!!”
Have a great day!
~Wendy
ha ha ha! yay katie!!
Just to clear the record….mom says you forget the pain of childbirth til you do it again. It was nice to get blog time though. Ha Ha.
Childbirth pain is worth is when you hold that precious baby. Polar bear plunging only gets you cold. Don’t know if I could do that. Go Katie!!!!! Next year, plunge in when a tv camera is watching. You are a brave woman!!!
She’s braver than I am. I’ve done a lot of adverturous things, but getting into extremely cold water isn’t one of them. I don’t even like the pool at the gym because it’s too cold! I’m a weanie when it comes to being cold.
I have always wanted to do that.
They have something very similar in ALASKA… where it was below zero out last week…. I dont know how people don’t die.. haha ill stay a bystander 🙂
The only way I would ever do that is if somebody was drowning and I needed to save them! (:>)
Linda @ Truthful Tidbits
I LOVE your family, there is always something going on:) Katie is crazy, there is no way, I can’t stand being outside in coat, hat, scarf, etc. let alone freezing water! Love you, Amanda L
Um, next year i will definitely remember the changing rooms… i bet it makes your toes warm up a lot faster when you aren’t standing barefoot on snow to get your jeans on…
and, i definitely thought that was you that said that jo… oops.. glad you got blogtime though 🙂
and…. ALASKA!?!?!? i’m surprised people don’t die from doing the polar bear plunge in hagerstown… let alone alaska… do they have to cut a hole in the ice so people can get through to the water??? jk.. no actually, seriously i’m wondering.
katie
🙂
Why not??
🙂