15 Degrees & The Hot Tub

Saturday night, 15 degrees outside, and the inviting thought of laying in the spa and looking at the stars: It all progressed nicely until it was time to get out. My first clue should have been the fact that steam rising out of the tub was freezing onto the side of the lid. My second clue should have been Deb's quick exit, and rapid departure from said steaming tub, with not even a parting glance back. This left me alone, sitting in the tub, splashing hot water onto my ears while I planned my exit strategy. It should have gone smoothly: exit, grab towel, throw over shoulders, quickly swing the lid down and then flip it closed, clip both latches to lock down lid and run inside. I know, you are thinking, it must have been just miserable out there in that kind of cold. Nope, the only issue to be aware of during a nice relaxing spa while the mercury hovers in the teens is, once you get your ears and neck underwater, they better stay underwater unless you plan on defrosting them later with a blow dryer. Oh, there is just one other thing... The final task before running inside requires that I clip two metal carabiners into two metal eyes to secure the lid of the tub. With that being said, I take one wrinkled wet hand and one 15 degree carabiner, press them together and instantly get something like superglue! It was quick! I knew exactly what had happened, but it was too late! I at least had the common sense to not yank my hand away when it happened, but with the lid down my first idea of using the free hand to splash hot water onto the frozen one went straight out the window. I could feel in my hand that the bonding process was just getting started, so yelling for Deb was not an option. I then did all I could do... Started working up a really big mouth full of nice hot spit! Being careful not to touch my lips to the problem I started spitting. At first I thought I might be adding to the ice glue but quickly I could feel the bond weakening. A few more moments and the liberal application of more defrosting agent and I was free! Using the towel as a buffer I completed the latching tasks and ran indoors. By the time I entered the house the warm glow of the tub was a distant memory. I can assure you though, that I will not forget this lesson! Well I must go and dig up my copy of "Christmas Story" as I seem to remember something about a tongue and a frozen pole!