It Boggles My Mind: Duluth's Polar Bear Plunge

SOME JUMPED in yelling caveman yells (I go kill dat mammoth today! Aaaaaaaaiieeeee!). Some walked solemnly across the boardwalk and looked behind them at their loved ones, as if it was going to be their last moments on earth. Some look scared and unwilling, like captives forced by pirates to walk the gang plank. But what ever! They were all doing it for a good cause, and that was to raise money for Minnesota's special olympics. Hmmm, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them--after jumping into that frigid lake--eventually becomes a beneficiary of this fund raiser ("Yeeeessss, I lost this leg during Polar Bear Plunge 2005. And um, the other one had to be amputated after Polar Bear Plunge 2006...What about you? What? Oh, weeeelll, I had nipples until last year too.")
More pictures:

MR. HAWAIIAN SHORTS. Brave man summons the gods of the tropics by wearing charmed shorts.

THE PLUNGE. In the end, it was his thick, American-Scandinavian er, skin, that protected him from the bone-chilling claws of Lake Superior.

TEST OF FRIENDSHIP. Yup. Friends who plunge together, stay together.

NO FAIR. He had warm clothes on. Let's hope he brought some extra clothes for the chilly trip back to the house.

THE REAL POLAR BEARS. Medics stay warm and dry in their extra-thick scuba suits.