Jan 30: Defrosting the Cake

Picture your swimsuit - you know, that one that makes you look pretty darned good. Now imagine it frozen inside a huge cake of ice. Why do this, you ask? Because that's more or less the situation your swimsuit is in these days, assuming you live somewhere north of the Florida state line. Your swimsuit may as well be encased in ice because it's stuck in those c-c-cold northern climes and you can't wear that swimsuit any time soon. Unless ... Unless you come for a visit somewhere south of the Florida state line, preferably so far south that there's not even a theoretical possibility of real ice. Here in Greater Fort Lauderdale, ice is good for one thing: to chill down your margarita. Yes, in this part of the world your swimsuit will most definitely unthaw. It will have the chance again to do what swimsuits like to do - swim.

The good people who promote tourism for Greater Fort Lauderdale have been trying their best recently to tell winter-bound northerners about this idea. The South Florida folks display a big cake of ice with a bikini frozen inside it. Then they show it to some of those northerners to remind them about the condition their own swimsuits are in at this time of year. That's the pitch. "Defrost Your Swimsuit."

Clever. The tourism officials have been all over the place with those iced bikinis. Toronto and New York City, Even merry olde London, England. Though not the coldest winter on record by any stretch, this has been a strange winter ... and still cold enough to keep those swimsuits far away from the water. I just checked the current weather as I write this blog on Monday morning: Toronto, 32 and cloudy; New York, 35 and partly cloudy; London, 39 and fair. Brrr. Sounds way too cold for swimming unless you have white fur all over your body. And here in South Florida? It's 72 and mostly sunny. Now that's more like it. The "Defrost Your Swimsuit" promotion even has a contest you can enter to win three nights in the luxe Atlantic Resort & Spa, airfare for two, a fine dinner and a spa treatment. To try your luck, click here. Or you can download a free app for your iPhone at http://www.sunny.org/apps. You'll get a smile by putting your own photo into a virtual block of ice, which of course promptly melts to reveal a pic of you-know-who on the beach. All fun stuff to help you get through your wintry winter. Hey, you'll make it. The first day of spring arrives in only ... well, maybe you better not think about this yet. Just look at that photo of you on the Fort Lauderdale beach, imagine all the sunshine beating down on your body and pray that the Contest Gods will smile upon you.