Polar Bear

Went out to Lake Superior today (Black River Harbor). Water was cold, but I always make it a point to get in and swim when I get an opportunity to visit the greatest of the Great Lakes, it's a point of pride with me.

Long story short: That's the coldest water I've ever been in. By far. When I got in my body kind of shut down for a moment, it was shocking how cold it was. Anyway, I didn't think much more about it, and I even went in a second time.

But then back at my dad's house we started talking about how cold the water was. He said that the last ice only melted about two weeks ago (and there are still patches of snow on the ground, by the way).

So I looked up the surface temperature online. Surface temps for Lake Superior can be found here, courtesy of CoastWatch, by Michigan Tech:
http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/

Here is the link for the western part of the lake:
http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/superior/s1.html

I was shocked to find that the temperature was 37 degrees!!! No wonder it felt so cold! Yes, I swam for a bit and I got my head under the water. But DAMN, it was COLD!

It was so cold that it reminded me of one of my favorite jokes. I've heard this joke told slightly differently, but this is the best link I found:
"The Funniest Joke: Baby Polar Bear"
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Funniest-Joke-Baby-Polar-Bear

Yes, I was wondering if I was 100% pure polar bear at that moment, when I dunked my whole body into the water. Because I was fucking freezing. :)