Monday, January 02, 2006

Happy New Year!

There are things that you dream about and you scheme about when you are a 20 year old looking for adventure and excitement. Then life comes along and sends you some detours and 17 years later you find yourself standing at the edge of a dark, gaping hole. And as you stare into the inky abyss, flecked with shards of ice you feel the weight of a thousand eyes, and what was once a dream begins to ebb towards nightmare domain. All bad dreams have spectators, a mob keenly intent on seeing you make a fool of yourself. The truly heinous ones capture the moment for the world to behold. So, you take a moment to contemplate life and you ask, what the hell am I doing here?


And, as with all things potentially cataclysmic, it is good to run and sort through the loose ends of your life. So you embark off on the snow packed path and encounter the white rabbit, an idol of snow that might lend some wisdom to your plight, except that said rabbit has been encrouched upon by an army of canines which threaten to reduce the icon to a pile of lemon slushie. So you run on, but all the while you feel the pull of the black hole beckoning you to return. And since the brand upon your arm is the mark of the guppy, the lowest position of social hierarchy, you are beholden to return.
But to your amazement and delight, while you were running a large enclave of fellow guppies have gathered, all drawn to the abyss, intent on virginal sacrifice. All join the queue that will return you to the hole. The mass jitters and twitters quietly, each one contemplating his rise in social standing if the hole can be conquered. Plunge, swim, under the flag, 12 meters, pole, ladder, graduation! As you stand in line watching your fellow guppies take the plunge surrounded by those sharks and barracudas who have paved the way, you barely notice the gusting wind as it buffets your naked legs and arms making all future shaving obsolete. Your turn approaches, all eyes are on you now, leaving only one thing left to say,

C A N N O N B A L L !!!!!!!!!!!!!!






Holy expletive Trihubby! The brief unconcious moment underwater notwithstanding, that was the damndest thing I've ever done. Will I do it again? Of course, there's a social order to climb and no one wants to be a minnow for the rest of their life.

Happy New Year!

14 comments:

Tammy said...

LOL... way to go Minnow!!! It would take more than fishy heirarchy to get my a$$ in that water. More power to ya!

See ya soon....

Nancy Toby said...

Oh my God!!

Now you're MAKING me do the Polar Bear Plunge here, aren't you? Dammit. I was going to try to avoid that sucker. It's at the end of January, when the water in the Chesapeake is at its coldest for the year.

YOU ROCK!!!!

Born To Endure said...

brrrrrrrrrrr way to go!!!

Melissa said...

Oh My Gosh, I'm so cold just reading that. More power to ya!!

Melissa

Chris said...

I'm getting goose bumps just looking at those pictures! Which lake was that at?

Comm's said...

Thats just weird.

Fe-lady said...

My husband was reading your blog over my shoulder and he said..."I'd do that!" I laughed and said I would watch him and then join him the following year!
(Waiting in line must be the hardest part!) You are so COOL! (ha-literally!) I bet a starbucks coffee never tasted sweeter afterwards!

Lisa said...

Way to go!! Isn't it such a rush? I did the Polar Plunge in Madison a couple years ago, in mid-February. That was the coldest I've ever been in my life. I've GOT to remember to do that again!

Herself, the GeekGirl said...

I'm visiting your blog for the first time - you go girl! No guts, no glory! I did something called the "Polar Bear Tri" in New Mexico, but we ended with a swim in a heated pool...

Kewl Nitrox said...

You are braver than I am. That's all I can say.

Fe-lady said...

So now you are a shark...barracuda...killer whale?
Whatever it may be, it's bigger and better than I!

Cliff said...

Hmm i love being a minnow :)...

That's cold....

Sixteen Chickens said...

Hahahaha I loved reading that, the photos and the narration... just loved it! Did you pull any ice chunks out of your... ears?

Tracy said...

GO YOU! Trimama rocks!