I caught this pristine picture this morning of two cormorants in Lake Padden. They were going to be disrupted pretty quickly, with the Polar Bear crazy people getting ready to jump into the freezing water, with the temperature outside somewhere right around freezing. I joined my regular Saturday walkers for a couple of trips around Lake Padden and a nice five-mile brisk walk in the sunshine before the plunge at noon. It was cold just standing around fully dressed, but the organizers of the Polar Bear Plunge encouraged costumes, and this group spent a while getting ready. They made the plunge in tutus, suspenders and hard hats!
As you can see, they are not shy and were having a great time, showing off and drinking schnapps before the noontime dash into the water. Here are all the brave souls waiting for the signal to dunk, lined up and ready to go. Obviously the blonde lady was not intending to get wet, and I lost track of her, wondering if she ended up inadvertently going for a swim.
Everyone has towels and/or friends waiting to put them into warm clothes after the plunge. As you can see in the foreground if you enlarge the picture, there is ICE in that water! And here they go!
I estimated at least a couple of hundred intrepid Polar Bears heading into the water, but I didn't see any sign of the yellow hard hats and tutus as people began to turn around and make a very rapid exit out of the cold, invigorating water.
This picture shows that the majority of the crowd are heading back to the shoreline, but there are still a cautious few making their way in. It was actually quite a fine way to begin the new year, and once again I find myself wondering if I might be able to do it and not have a heart attack, which would surely spoil my entire year! It did look like fun, though.
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