A polar plunge to start the decade

(Originally posted Jan. 5, 2010)
The new year started off with a bang. Well, sort of. The bang actually came 12 hours late.
The New Year’s Eve party I went to turned out to not be much of a party after all. I went to my buddy Randy’s house, and as soon as I drove up I knew it was going to be a bad night. I began cursing when I saw his mother-in-law’s car in the driveway. I needed a buffer. So I called my friend Chad to see if he was coming. But he and the wife had other plans. Dammit.
So the New Year’s Eve party turned out to be a bust. I sat on the couch with Randy, his wife, her mom and Randy’s step brother, playing the Wii and trying to keep an annoying golden retriever puppy off the couch. My real New Year’s celebration didn’t start until noon on Jan. 1.

Basically, I froze my ass off to start 2010. About a month ago, I decided I wanted to try a polar bear plunge to celebrate the new year. So, I put an announcement of my intentions up on Facebook to see if any of my friends would bite. None did. I talked to some in person as well, and they all said they didn’t have the balls for it or they didn’t want to come out of their comfort zone or they just didn’t want to put forth the energy. That seems to be the case with most people, not just my friends and acquaintances, so I can’t blame them. But I wish more people would realize how fun and rewarding it is to step outside their comfort zone and be more open to new things and ideas. You have a more interesting life, with more stories to tell and better memories than if you just sit at home or go out to the bar night after night.

Anyway, enough of my preaching. The good news is, someone finally agreed to come along with me. My buddy Tom was back in town for the holidays and wanted to have an interesting New Year’s experience, so he met me at Pleasant Beach, along Rich Passage on the south side of Bainbridge Island. We were both nervous about the plunge, but it turned out the worst part was the five minutes leading up to it, during which we stood outside in 40-some degree weather, with wind and rain smacking our bare backs. Don’t get me wrong, the water was cold. But when the water is about the same temperature as the air outside, there’s not much shock involved in jumping in. It’s only after that you start to grow numb. So we dunked and ran back out.

After we came back to the shore, the air didn’t seem so bad. I was shivering far less than before. But it still felt great to hop into the shower when I got home an hour later.
Anyway, Tom and I were both glad we did it. I think one other friend is going to join us next year, if we decide to do it again. Maybe I can convince more of them to open up.