Tag Archives: polar daze

A tag-along day on Lake Bemidji

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I tagged along with Bethany today as she covered Polar Daze for the Pioneer. I figured it would make a cold outdoor activity more fun for both of us, as well as give us a rare opportunity to do some walking.

A brisk half-hour walk before the Brrrmidji Polar Plunge worked out well for us; while we were ice-cold earlier, by the time of the Plunge, it wasn’t so bad. We were at  least done complaining that even our foreheads were cold. I had grumbled that it felt like someone was injecting frozen Botox into my forehead.

But we had it made, compared to the more than 100 people who jumped, walked, cannonballed, belly-flopped, somersaulted, tumbled and in whatever other ways plunged into a giant hole in Lake Bemidji.

One of the coolest things about watching the Brrrmidji Plunge is how the faces change as the plungers enter the water.

Above, we see a happy pair of kids, but as the boy hits the water, a look of shock and disbelief takes over. The girl, meanwhile, is still smiling. That’s because, in the second photo Bethany shot, she has yet to hit the water.

It didn’t take any of the jumpers long to clear out of the water and head for their trailers to dry off and change clothes.

This was the happiest reaction I think I’ve ever seen in a jumper. I have witnessed a few stoic reactions and he-man responses, but I’m not used to people looking *happy*. This guy,  Scott, looked like he’d just won a race. He was pumped. He even looked cheerful as he walked across the ice to the guys’ trailer.

It wouldn’t be the Brrrmidji Plunge without the Bemidji firefighters jumping in together. The first time I saw this event, I was late getting there, and I actually met the firefighters on the sidewalk as they ran from the lake to the Bemidji Fire Department at Fifth Street and America Avenue after their jump.  I wished that day that I’d had a camera, because that run is part of the tradition, too.

With Bemidji’s Paul Bunyan celebrating his 75th birthday all year, it was fitting the iconic lumberjack would make the plunge. Paul, also known as Dr. Mike Headlee of Explore Chiropractic, jumped last year as well, flinging the stuffed Babe the Blue Ox into the water ahead of him then, too. But this year Paul was joined by his wife, Lucette, as illustrated in folklore in Hackensack. They carried a brightly wrapped birthday present, as well as a birthday cupcake Lucette (Lorrie Richardson) handed off just before she jumped.

Jumpers seemed to come out of the woodwork, from solo artists to groups of friends, family members and co-workers.  Some were seasoned veterans of this event, while others did it for the first time.

“It’s overrated,” one man said as he left the trailer after getting dressed. “Once in a lifetime is enough.”

(Zero isn’t so bad, either ….)

My favorite quote Bethany got, and this is more paraphrasing than quoting until I can see her actual article, was from a boy who jumped with his dad and sister: “It was great. I had a lot of fun. I’ll never do it again.”

He seemed to agree with the once-in-a-lifetime guy.

How about you? Have you ever made the leap? If not, would you consider it?

Brrr.

A little bit of everything

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I’m starting from the back today, just because I felt so sorry for this poor dog.

His name is Buck, and he was obviously not having a good day.

Buck and his owner, Josh, of Cass Lake, came into Animal Care Clinic while Little Kitty and I were waiting for our appointment, which was right after today’s walk.

Pet owners and clinic staff expressed sympathies for the poor dog, who seemed to be taking it pretty well.

"Looks like he kissed him," Josh quipped about the placement of the porcupine quills, which were imbedded both around and inside the dog’s mouth, as well as on his front paws.

My camera batteries were dead, so I whipped out my Nintento DSi, which has a built-in camera. It doesn’t take the greatest pictures, but it did OK in a pinch for this.

Doesn’t your heart just go out to the poor guy?

As for Little Kitty, she was a bit ruffled over having three dogs (besides Buck) playing around near her, but at least she didn’t have to get her belly shaved this time. The last time I took my cats to the vet, she had a fungal infection on her tummy and they took her away and shaved her.

That was last May, and ever since, if she gets the idea that I might be taking her somewhere, she gets this look in her eyes and runs away. So today, I was super casual and gave them some kitty treats in the kitchen before scooping her up.

All she needed was a shot today, so it went pretty well once we got in there. We’ll see how she reacts from now on.

Now, back to walking.

We did a little bit of everything today, as the headline says.

Bethany and I did our regular walking down the sidewalks, some clear, some snowy, some icy, as usual. We ran across our regular friendly black dog.

Then we stopped at City Hall to get our Passports for Fitness, which is a program sponsored by the Bemidji Parks and Recreation and the Acting Living Partnership. It lets you try out a bunch of different physical fitness activities, such as yoga, kick boxing, stretching, rock climbing and a variety of others. We like the idea because, for $30 for the two of us (the passports are $20 each singly), we can try out a lot of different classes and explore what we might like to focus more specifically on. The enthusiastic Samantha Parker is behind this program.

Unfortunately, though, the passports are not available at City Hall. Somehow, even though we have ourselves written about the passport program, we forgot the passports are at the Public Works Facility.

We were done walking by that point, so we went back to my house and took Bethany’s car there. After we drove up, I got out and took a photo of the lonely guy above, who is probably not too often on the list of people who stroll through downtown looking for the pieces in the Bemidji Sculpture Walk.

We bought our passports, then drove over to the Tourist Information Center to buy my ticket to the Taste of Northern Minnesota — at which I consumed far more calories tonight than I burned walking, that’s for sure. (This is one of my favorite events in Bemidji and I have gone every year, usually as a reporter, but this year reporter Anne Williams covered it, so I went with her, and just enjoyed myself while she worked.)

While we were at the Tourist Information Center, I took some photos of the Fireplace of States, which I love. It’s so neat that all these places sent bricks to make this beautiful piece of history.

We also took a look at the guestbook, which we discovered that Anne and her husband, Ben, had signed last weekend.

However, they did not write a comment, so unfortunately, they cannot be part of the Quotes of the Day:

Today, someone from Talhina, Okla., wrote, “Nice people. Lovely town but cold.”

Cold? It was around 20 degrees today. Above zero, even.

Yesterday, another person –- a Bemidjiian, even! –- wrote, on a day in which the high temperature was 27, “Could it get any colder?”

Um, yes. A lot colder.

There were quite a few entries Saturday during the height of the Polar Daze celebration.

Another visitor from a warmer climate (Harrison, Ark.) wrote, simply: “COLD.”

Someone from Bemidji apparently agreed: “COLDNESS.”

But a hardier Bemidji resi-dent had a different perspective: “Warm!”

Another person from Bemidji wrote that Polar Daze rocks, but hockey also drew some love:

From Pequot Lakes: “Hockey is amazing!”

And from McGregor, Minn.:

“Hockey + horses = life.”

I love that one. I assume these are separate passions and that polo ponies aren’t taking to the ice.

Bethany said she didn’t think she had ever had her picture taken with Paul and Babe.

I had to remedy that!

Here is today’s mystery photo:

Yesterday’s puzzler was feathers on Wanda Reise Odegard’s "Niimi," the dancing Indian statue in Library Park.

 We now look ahead to Friday, and hope for the best with the stormy weather that is expected.

Stay safe and warm!

– Laurie