Should I, or shouldn’t I, do the Polar Bear Plunge?

I am trying to decide how crazy I should get in this annual resolution of mine, which is to have a number of rather random adventures each year (1 new activity/place, 1 new food, and 1 new volunteer thing each month; see side bar).  For instance, I had already planned to provide support for friends of mine doing the polar bear plunge this January 24th (website); driving them to and from the site, bringing hot chocolate, having the blankets ready, snapping the embarrassing photos… this would probably be my volunteer activity of the month.   But I keep thinking that I need to start the 2015 adventures off with a bang, like I did by going to Quebec during the polar vortex in January last year for the start of my “AdventuresAcross2014.”  I mean, do I really want to start off the AdventuresAcross2015 off with the fact that my new food of the month was Romanesque Green Cauliflower (already eaten/post coming)?  No!  I need something with more oomph.

Saying that – do I also want to let the need for an adventure drive me to do something I will find miserable??  I despise cold weather.  I wear long johns/tights when it gets below 65 deg outside.  Truly.  I can shiver uncontrollably below 45 deg, and toe toasters somehow don’t have enough power.   But the pictures of my friends, and their description of the amazing camaraderie that occurs during this, is tempting as well – and you don’t have to go all the way underwater.  So I’m undecided, though I secretly am hoping that I can come up with another amazing adventure in January to replace it.  Because today, it is 9 deg F outside with wind chill, and there’s no way I’m getting in the water if the weather is like that on the 24th!    Comments, encouragement on either side is welcome.

In the meantime, if you are interested in supporting my more cold-tolerant friends/our Green Neighbors team, here is the link: https://www.firstgiving.com/team/282535.

Cheers,

Annette