10. Item 10: Holiday Bathing Suit

“Item 38: Ugly Holiday sweaters are great, but with the climate crisis heating up the planet, we’ve got to branch out. Model your best ugly Holiday bathing suit or bikini made of repurposed ugly holiday sweaters. Model it at the beach with a caption touting the virtues of your ‘Global Warming Holiday Sweater.'”

Tanya Tyson and her son Zayde, from team Gish on the Wind Loves Dean’s Perky Nipples, almost traveled to the North Pole to accomplish this item. Santa would be proud. The mother-son duo trekked to Portage Lake, which is about 60 miles South of Anchorage, Alaska. The lake is glacier fed by Portage Glacier.

Tanya said: “The fact that you cannot see the glacier from the Visitor Center area is a testament to the fact that the glaciers are melting—likely more quickly due to global warming.” She continued with, “According to signs in the Visitor Center, the glacier was visible from that area around 20 years ago. People do not normally swim in this lake, but my son was willing to go in for a photo opportunity.”

Nicole Lazar, from team CrowleysHellhounds, also completed this item. She said, “I love doing tasks with my children. Occasionally, my oldest gets embarrassed, but on the whole, we have a lot of fun, bonding time during GISH week… My two-year-old insisted on wearing her holiday bikini around the house for days before we made it to the beach for photos.

If GISH can make an item that’s both satirical and stands for something, they absolutely go for it. This was one of the more clever and fun, yet sobering when you actually ruminate on the implications. It’s a great way to engage people into having conversations about such matters.