Oh wait… I mean, Happy Groundhog Day! I wonder if good ‘ole Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow this year?
Where did this holiday originate from? According to Wikipedia, “the celebration, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19thcenturies, has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.”
The site goes on to say “the custom could have been a folk embodiment of the confusion created by the collision of two calendrical systems” which had the first day of spring on different dates. The groundhog was used to settle this yearly debate.
“According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.”
Studies (by Groundhog Day proponents) show the rodents’ forecasts are accurate between 75% to 90% of the time!
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. I’m sure all the media outlets will be covering it. And, you can pretty much be guaranteed that the movie “Groundhog Day” will be shown over and over and over on tv tonight!
For more information on Groundhog Day… click HERE.
Until next time…
Happy Blogging!
