It's Groundhog Day

Happy Groundhog Day. Bright and early this morning at Gobbler's Nob in Punxsutawney, PA, Punxsatawney Phil, the "Prognosticator of Prognosticators " saw his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter. A lot of people at Gobbler's Nob said "Booo!" to that, but I was thrilled. I hate summer with the passion of a thousand burning suns because that's what summer in Texas feels like, a thousand burning suns. According to National Geographic, groundhogs, also known as woodchucks or marmosets, are the largest member of the squirrel family. They are mostly herbivores, but will eat grubs and insects. They are rodents who eat a lot and build up a healthy layer of fat, then hibernate during the winter.Their appearance in the spring inspired this whole Punxsutawney Phil weather report thing in the first place.

According to the National Post, a groundhog known as Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Provential Park did not see his shadow and predicted an early spring. Another groundhog, Wiarton Willie of Ontario also predicted an early spring. This is good news for those in Canada, as we all know, their winters can get pretty chilly. Another groundhog, known as Charles C. Hogg of Staten Island, New York also predicted an early spring. In addition, according to the National Post, groundhogs in Ohio and Georgia did not see their shadows and predicted an early spring.

In Texas, according to WFAA, Texans are tired of an animal that's not even native to Texas predicting the weather for the entire country. They decided to have an armadillo named 'Bee Cave Bob' predict the weather for the Lone Star State. They call it 'Armadillo Day.' If Bob stays out of his hole, then there will be an early spring. If he goes back in the hole, that means there will be more winter. Bee Cave Bob didn't do much of anything today, so they aren't sure what the weather will bring. Armadillos are nocturnal and I'm sure Bee Cave Bob didn't appreciate being rooted out of bed in the middle of the day. There's a cow in Houston known as 'Alamo The Longhorn' who predicted an early spring. There's a penguin somewhere named 'Sweet Pea' who predicted more winter. Actually with Texas, you never know what the weather will bring. There's a saying that goes, "Don't like the weather, wait five minutes, it'll change."

Then there's the movie, 'Groundhog Day' where Bill Murray plays a weatherman with an attitude who travels to Punxsutawney with a news crew to do a special report on Punxsutawney Phil and his famous weather prediction. For this weatherman, who's name also happens to be 'Phil',  February 2 repeats over and over again. Each day, the clock radio in his room starts up with Sonny & Cher's 'I Got You Babe' following which he goes down to Gobbler's Nob and does his story on Phil and interacts with various people in the town. I doubt if Phil, the groundhog who predicted this year's seasonal change is the same one who starred in the movie. The movie came out in 1993 and according to Wikipedia, groundhogs in captivity live 9 -14 years. It's a cute movie and it's still fun to watch now and then.

I get a kick out of all of these animals making weather predictions. I could just see them in the woods with a little weather station, Doppler radar and computers like a group of high tech storm chasers. Couldn't you just imagine a groundhog in front of a green-screen weather map explaining how the stationery front and the jet stream is influencing the local weather?  I could just imagine groundhogs in a little toy car, scooting around the countryside with cameras looking for interesting weather? It's interesting what one's imagination can come up with.

All I know is that I am not ready for spring or summer. I would like to see a little winter and some snow.