Same day, one year later

I did the polar bear swim down at Mathews Beach on Lake Washington again this year. We somehow got a little mixed up on the timing though - we thought that it started at 12:30 so we got there just a little after 12 noon, only to find ourselves being passed by dripping wet and freezing people walking the other way. Apparently it had been at noon. Not having the crowd to fortify us didn't keep us from running into the water anyway - we couldn't go all the way down there in our bathing suits and not jump in! We were rewarded with this year's "badge of courage" after joining the mob surrounding the volunteers passing them out. KC and I agree that this year's is cuter than last year's. Water temperature was 44 degrees fahrenheit, 2 degrees colder than 2006. The Seattle P-I reported that nearly 900 people participated this year! More proof that this city can be insane sometimes :)