The Allure of the Other

Why we love winter

- Tom Mcmahon

The cold water writhes around you, its icy fingers gripping tightly. But still you paddle. You paddle because you know what lies in store. You paddle because the feeling of standing atop the ocean is unbeatable. It is euphoric.

The numbing winter ocean never lets up, it is never anything other than brutal and punishing. Yet we go back day after day, year after year. Those that dwell on the land cannot fathom what pulls us into the chaotic icy froth time after time. They do not feel the pull, the allure of the other. They cannot imagine why we choose to venture towards the tumultuous winter water. Let the secret remain unknown to them. Let them wonder.

Glory is not afforded to those who take the easy road. Victory has to be fought for hammer and tong. To achieve you have to work until your fingers bleed, you have to climb that mountain, you have to wade into that frigid white water.