I have to admit that I was curious. What kind of a nut would run into the icy water of Skaneateles Lake at the end of January just to say that they did take the plunge! But, I guess that’s what did happen on Saturday the 25th at Skaneateles during their Winterfest’14. I wasn’t brave enough to get out of the house on Saturday and take the drive to Skaneateles as the weather man had been predicting one to three inches of snow that never came to Canandaigua until early evening.
The weather cleared on Sunday morning and we headed to Skaneateles. The temperatures were in the mid-teens and the sun shone brightly when we arrived around 11:00 am. The town was peaceful enough. The usual icicles hung off the roof at the Sherwood Inn but very few people were outside. I walked across the street to Clift Park and started taking pictures of the ice sculpture which was down by the lake. The sculpture seemed to change shapes as I walked around it and when I returned home, I finally decided that it was a sculpture of a bird, sitting on some kind of tree leaf.
I came upon the spot where the polar bear plunge allegedly occurred. It was between the pier and the gazebo. You could see where someone had chopped a big hole in the ice but the water had already refrozen. I can’t imagine running down the slight grade and then plunging into the icy water! The wind had already started to sting my face and my fingers were already numb.
I moved a little closer to the area. And sure enough, there were three bears which guarded the hole where the plunge took place. They didn’t seem to mind that that the temperature was well below freezing and probably will remain there for quite some time. As for those who took the Polar Bear Plunge, I can only hope that Obamacare will cover your doctor bills!
