My Sister-In-Law Is A Polar Bear
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Here’s one sure-fire way to cure a New Year’s hangover, to wash away the sins of 2011, to start 2012 with an active heart and pink skin, and to provide yourself with bragging material for at least a couple weeks.
All you have to do is hurl yourself into Boston’s Dorchester Bay (and that water is about 40º, tops), along with maybe 700 other people, at the crack of dawn (well, 8 a.m., which may seem crack-like after a night of New Year’s Eve revelry) on January 1st.
This, of course, also means appearing publicly in a bathing suit after two weeks of holiday indulgence, which, for me, would require more courage than the icy water part. However, some who take what’s called the Polar Bear Plunge, do it costumed, like one guy this year who dressed as one of the Three Little Pigs. Think pink plastic body suit, toilet paper roll for a snout. (Don’t judge. Would you rather wear a Speedo?)
My sister-in-law, Ellen (pictured here in a red towel), does the Plunge every year. She is 60-ish, swims year round and is therefore very fit and looks good in her bathing suit, and has no grey hair. (I know this last fact is irrelevant but I find it so enviable that I have to mention it.) While I don’t envy her the experience of that frosty splash, I admire her for doing it.
Think about it. Setting aside the insanity of going Polar shortly after your last sip of New Year’s Eve champagne, there are some positives. First, the Plunge is a tradition (in its 109th year) and, in uncertain times, it can be helpful to embrace those markers that give life structure. Second, it’s an exercise in community bonding that is not Facebook. Third, I’m told you feel much better when it’s over than you did before. (This would be true for me only if the Globe photographer did not capture me in mid-leap in last year’s tankini.) We need all the legal, feel-good activities we can get.
So I applaud Ellen, from the (L.A.) sidelines, a place from which I will comfortably continue to cheer her on every January when she Polar-izes. I may be too much of a wuss to freshen up in a Boston bay, but I thank those who do it for reminding me why it’s a good idea.
