Four Februaries have we frozen. The frigid waters of Utah Lake, sheathed in their cocoon of unyielding ice, have made their frosty siren call every year and we, like the foolish sailors of old, have willingly lunged to our soggy doom. A few weeks ago we performed that annual sacrificial plummet once more.

This year I, yet again, created a team to participate in the Polar Plunge at Pelican Bay on Utah Lake, a benefit for the Special Olympics. As in years past, friends with more bravery than brains joined me; some for glory, some for charity, some for stupidity. Whatever the reasons, that siren song did not fall deafly on their ears but happily transported their attached feet to the water’s glacial brink.

Our team selected the theme of “What Does the Fox Say?” for our costumes this time. Because of my unfailing lack of dignity and unwavering dependability, I consented to be the fox, the focal point of our beastly band. Though not quite as popular as Super Mario Brothers were last year, our creature crew attracted quite a bit of attention, including some from a local paper that featured three pictures of us in their online article.

Yes, alongside about three hundred and fifty other lost souls, we hurtled ourselves into the icy abyss with smiles on our painted faces and no feeling in our fingers. Plunging into a frozen lake may sound like an awful annual tradition but you haven’t heard how sweetly those Sirens sing.