#weather prognosticating groundhog

[academiaipromise]

every year my non-usamerican family asks me about groundhog day and they make sure i update them with the verdict. this year they’ve found out about general beuregard lee and they were like wait why has this never come up before and the answer is that that is level 5 usamerican lore that i don’t have the strength to explain.

[xtruss]

Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 138th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Phil's handlers said that the groundhog has forecast an early spring. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Predicts An Early Spring

— By Jacob Geanous | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | February 2, 2024

Punxsutawney Phil, Western Pennsylvania’s famed weather-predicting groundhog, predicted an early spring Friday morning after he emerged from his burrow and did not see his shadow.

The mystical marmot was summoned at dawn by the members of the Groundhog Club Inner Circle, a group of local dignitaries tasked with caring for Phil and organizing the annual Groundhog Day at Gobbler’s Knob — a small hill approximately 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 138th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Phil's handlers said that the groundhog has forecast an early spring. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

Phil’s prediction comes as sunshine and temperatures in the 40s and 50s are expected for the week ahead, weather that Groundhog Day organizers said, in part, led to an estimated 30,000 visitors for the town’s festivities.

Phil’s forecast predicted six more weeks of winter the past three years after calling for an early spring in 2019 and 2020.

Here’s What You Should Know.

Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 137th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. Phil's handlers said that the groundhog has forecast six more weeks of winter. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger) (AP)

What Are The Origins Of Groundhog Day

The custom dates back to an early Christian tradition known as Candlemas, in which celebrants declared that clear skies on Candlemas meant a longer winter. Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers brought the tradition with them.

As for Phil, he rose to fame after appearing in Punxsutawney’s local newspaper in 1886. A member of a groundhog hunting group known as “The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club” used his clout at the paper to trumpet Phil, named after King Phillip, as the only official weather prognosticating groundhog.

Phil’s popularity grew from there, and the first of many annual Groundhog Day treks to Gobbler’s Knob followed in 1887.

Groundhog Day is led by the Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle, a group of 15 local dignitaries who also feed and take care of Phil year round, although the Inner Circle president is the only one responsible for translating Phil’s predictions.

Are Phil’s Predictions Foolproof?

Despite his induction into the Punxsutawney Weather Discover Center’s Meteorologist Hall of Fame last year, Phil is not always spot on in his predictions.

In fact, Phil’s Winter prognostications have been accurate just 39% of the time over 135 years, according to StormFax Weather Almanac.

Throughout the history of Groundhog Day, Phil has also been shown to be much more likely to predict six more weeks of winter.

He has seen his shadow 108 times while seeing no shadow 20 times.

There is no record of nine of his predictions during a span between 1889 and 1899, although it was reported that Phil did not see his shadow in 1890, predicting an early Spring.

President Tom Dunkel and Groundhog handler AJ Derume with Punxsutawney Phil, who saw his shadow, predicting a late spring during the 137th annual Groundhog Day festivities on February 2, 2023 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Groundhog Day is a popular tradition in the United States and Canada. A crowd of upwards of 5,000 people spent a night of revelry awaiting the sunrise and the groundhog's exit from his winter den. If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather

What Does Phil Do The Rest Of The Year?

Although Groundhog Day brings the most visitors to Punxsutawney and the surrounding region, residents and Groundhog Day organizers said it's not the only time to visit the small town of about 6,000.

However, anyone who wants to meet the meteorological mammal outside of Groundhog Day will have to visit him at his home, a climate-controlled burrow at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library.

Phil also travels to events across the country in either his handlers’ vehicles or his tricked-out Philmobile.

Meanwhile, when Phil isn’t meeting with fans, he’s snacking on kale, bananas, carrots, apples and sweet potatoes.

Groundhog Club Inner Circle President Tom Dunkel and other Inner Circle members present Punxsutawney Phil to visitors on Groundhog Day 2023. Credit: Tom Dunkel (Tom Dunkel)

The Holiday Is A Boon For The Town And Region

With Groundhog Day comes an influx of visitors and cash to Punxsutawney and the surrounding rural region.

Hotels across the region book up months in advance of the day and the visitors bring a much needed boost to local businesses during the traditionally slow month of January.

“It has a great impact on our local businesses,” Katie Laska, Punxsutawney Area Chamber of Commerce president and owner of Laska’s Pizza. “It’s the shot in the arm that we need every year.”

Groundhog Club Inner Circle President Tom Dunkel and other Inner Circle members present Punxsutawney Phil to visitors on Groundhog Day 2023. Credit: Tom Dunkel (Tom Dunkel)

The effects also extend far past Punxsutawney into the entire region.

“Groundhog Day is a major asset not just for the town of Punxsutawney, but also for the PA Wilds region as a whole,” said Britt Madera, communications manager for the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, a nonprofit focused on conservation and economic development in the region. “When visitors come to see Phil make his annual prognostication, they're often inspired to continue exploring other parts of the region too.”

All Eyes on Punxsutawney

The nation's attention turns to western Pennsylvania this morning to watch the country's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, determine whether 2024 will bring an early spring or a longer winter. The prescient land-beaver will pick one of two scrolls, each containing separate wintery prophecies.

As is tradition, the slumberous whistle-pig will join his top-hatted crew to see whether he'll spot his shadow (foretelling six more weeks of winter) or relax a bit with his admiring fans (predicting an early spring). Phil is right about 40% of the time—or an impressive 60% if you flip the somewhat arbitrary rules.

The ceremony was originally conceived of by a local newspaper editor in 1886 but has its roots in Eastern European celebrations of the midway between the winter solstice and spring equinox—and also falls on the lesser-known Christian holiday, Candlemas.

Historical accounts suggest farmers used the appearance of hibernating mammals to signal spring. In reality, science suggests the salacious marmot likely appears to check for mates.

— Magazine 1440

[kotamagic]

I wanna know who looked at a groundhog and seriously thought it was a good weather prognosticator.

[writer59january13]

I hanker and pine for wood burning stove weather

I haint no spring chicken, ("Buk buk buk buk ba-gawk!") but in Summer re:

long in tooth sexagenarian

nostalgic for the following imagery evoked yesterday with very little effort (aside from sweat of my brow – just existing)

June twenty second hazy, hot, and humid

at least here within the environs -

of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

tooth thousand and twenty four,

the air analogous to a steam bath outside, though such insight

strictly predicated on meteorologist as seen on the flat screen.

Now before scrolling down lemme forewarn you of dire prediction reading about how yours truly doth suspire for Old Man Winter

returning with a vengeance

delivering a white July Fourth, Halloween,

Thanksgiving, Christmas,

Groundhog Day, Saint Patrick's Day...

yours truly desiring experiencing

becoming comfortably numb,

after envisioning, invoking then summoning forth cold spell.

Should deep freeze rain (reign)

crystalline precipitation pure as the driven snow

blanketing large swaths of webbed wide world

wreaking havoc courtesy unparalleled blizzard conditions,

would stump and confound earth scientists

suddenly finding themselves pensively trumped subsequently becoming overnight skeptics and staunch Republicans to boot - argh,

who grudgingly, hesitatingly scrap

what seemed to be

irrefutable air tight evidence

with reams of data proving global warming and side with deniers –

mostly non Democrats

courtesy artificial intelligence hinting at inexplicable significant ice age approaching,

barreling, and coming fast as a freight train virtual models prognostication

would show Polar Vortex

engulfing the entire planet clamping down hard

much of the United States

likely a couple short months in the future,

forecasting temperatures to register absolute zero

taxing the electric grids to heat lovely bones chilling, freezing, immobiling civilization, whereby

government agencies regularly issuing permanent code blue declarations,

which teeth chattering cold scenario

impossible mission to imagine or avoid with wind chill factors in triple digits

Jack Frost overstayed courtesy welcome,

when climate controlled central heater allows, enables and provides man/woman made respite hooray,

apartment cozy as a poetry nook,

whereby yours truly his head he doth lay (under crocheted blanket)

quickly slipping into deep sleep; the missus (madre) and her padre

(me) taking a siesta until spring

in my dream I take treadway

from such new zzz land

to Piccadilly Circus, London,

welcoming me to early twentieth century

balmy weather all year round place named Willoughby, where one

unnecessary to get bundled

and wrapped up –

like a mummy dearest

kvetching in vain at frigid forecast oy vey,

where surveillance cameras take x-ray

of suspicious character - Not Me,

while actually in reality outside apartment B44

one after another Nor'easter howls like bajillion banshees

vents wind chill factor

as temperature dips into low double digits as high,

and subzero higher negative number as a low,

I summon (with a puff) fire breathing friendly quasi magic dragon,

an acceptable and laughable substitute

calls for none other than Barney purple anthropomorphic

Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur.

Though a non-smoker of cigarettes, I discover pleasure slowly puffing on my pipe, and chose one at random from among the collection

made of briar wood, meerschaum,

corncob, pear-wood, rose-wood or clay listening to crackling flickering hearth,

yours truly snuggling (curled up in a little ball) with favorite reading material close proximity warming, thawing, and quelling lovely bones.

For no particular rhyme nor reason I lapse into a reverie and hear the brutal and nasty wind plaintively howling the song Molly Malone

her lilting voice distinctly heard Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

Meanwhile atavistic visitations hover after hypnotizing mindscape

of twenty first century Homo sapien as flashback visions of proto humans commingling with competing

short and nasty brutes brushes within subconscious purring, mew zing catacombs

jump/kick starting, harkening, dawning lion eyes zing

thawing ordinarily dormant memories,

where forebears alive bajillion years ago battle him of the republic

thumping their chests

and uttering primal sounds

against vastly outnumbered predators, who make mincemeat of weakest warbler similar to contemporary beastie boy punk bands

survival of the fittest

linkedin to anonymous

Monkey's Uncle recherché representatives toehold barely latched precarious niche easily activated punctuated equilibrium evolutionary quirk

imperceptibly bumped uglies begot robust progeny

offspring expanding comfort zones penumbra expanding edge of night dark shadows receding further

outer limits of twilight zone

phantasmagoric shifting shapes (hint... think Plato's Republic in general –

and Allegory of the Caves in particular - synonymous with Allegory of the Metals)

alluring, beckoning, daring...

establishing, foraging, growing...

harvesting, invoking, jabbering

kowtowing, livingsocial, Ashley Madison matchmaking tinder (ha)...

now lemme zip forward back to the future bajillion years somewhere in time circa 1970's British comedy troupe

nudge nudge wink wink,

say no more know what I mean courtesy Monty Python's Flying Circus

rollicking humorous sketches

oft times tackling primal urges

proto humans initially verbally grunted,

where guffawing laughter

rewarded survivalist basic instinct

temporarily staving rabid quivering premonitions outside

creature comfort boundaries, whereby Geico Caveman

will remain till... dis ember

by George thoroughly good appetizer, viz good chilled Wren plus

Pheasant under glass

burns away hunger pangs.

[underwaterfraulein]

Okay, but I am going to point out that Phil (human) SPECIFICALLY makes stopping Phil (groundhog) his goal at one point, and even THAT doesn't break the time loop. Prognosticating the weather is not bad for a quadraped, but allowing himself to be kidnapped and murdered by the very guy he's allegedly trying to punish?? I AIN'T BUYIN IT

punxsutawney phil is easily the most celebrated american to ever live despite having notably put that weatherman in the hell loop for around 33 years. we have to deplatform this marmot

[stevishabitat]

Punxsutawney Phil rises without a shadow, forecasting early spring : NPR

Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-prognosticating groundhog, during the 138th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., on Friday.

[stephen-barry]

Early Spring!

Of marmots, our Phil is the king,

Prognosticating weather and things,

Each year he appears,

To hoots, hollers, and cheers,

And this time he predicts early spring!

[sutrala]

With the world-famous Groundhog Day approaching Feb. 2, there's a fresh effort to replace the animal used in the shadowy weather prognostication in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. And this time, PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is hoping the public flips...

[biglisbonnews]

The Alternative Groundhogs Vying for Punxsutawney Phil's Weather Forecasting Job He has been variously described as “Orphie The Magnanimous,” a “reclusive oracle,” and a “world-renowned prognosticator,” offering a second opinion on the coming of spring every February 2. Just don’t call him an “alternative groundhog.” And definitely don’t call him a taxidermied, mounted groundhog wearing a tiny top hat and the occasional bowtie—although that’s exactly what he is. To his followers, who are known as the Hibernating Governors of the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, Octoraro Orphie is “The One True Groundhog.” “We have a lot of trouble believing people who believe in Punxsutawney Phil,” says Charlie Hart, the current leader of the lodge, which is located in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, “The way we see it, he’s an impostor.” On Groundhog Day, it’s Hart’s job to ascend the “Pinnacle of Prognostication” (a manure spreader) and, after consulting with Orphie, deliver the animal’s verdict on the duration of winter. How does Hart make this determination? “Oh, I can’t tell you that,” Hart says with a laugh. Orphie is not the only four-legged weathercaster offering an alternative for those not quite sold on Punxsutawney Phil’s meteorology. In Pennsylvania alone, his competition includes other groundhogs such as: Mount Joy Minnie, Grover, Poor Richard, Lawrenceville Lucy, Mt. Gretna Grady, Poppy (who appeared alongside Bill Murray in a 2020 Jeep commercial), Susquehanna Sherman, Tinicum Tim, Uni, and more. “We don’t really have much of a beef with these other prognosticators,” says Quarryville Lodge member J.C. Bell, “other than our belief that Orphie is absolutely correct 100 percent of the time.” Despite the fervor and lighthearted trash-talking of their adherents, these “alternative groundhogs” didn’t originate as a backlash against Phil or his skills in weather prophecy. In Pennsylvania, the tradition of the groundhog lodge, or grundsau lodsch, is rooted in the history of Pennsylvania Dutch culture. “The legend of the groundhog originated in Europe, although there weren’t groundhogs there,” says William Donner, professor of anthropology at Kutztown University and author of the book Serious Nonsense: Groundhog Lodges, Versammlinge and Pennsylvania German Heritage. “It’s based on Candlemas, which is six weeks after Christmas and midway between the [spring] equinox and the [summer] solstice. It has a lot of symbolic meaning—it commemorates Mary bringing Jesus to the temple of Jerusalem.” Historically, the holiday also celebrated the planting of crops. Over time, Candlemas evolved into a weather-predicting event where different animals served as weather forecasters to determine the best time to sow the fields. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, this job went to bears in France and England, while in Germany, badgers did the honors. In the 1800s, when German immigrants to Pennsylvania sought to continue their Candlemas traditions, there were no badgers to be found—but groundhogs were plentiful. With a job vacancy to fill, the newly established Pennsylvania German communities found these lowland marmots equally employable. Punxsutawney Phil and his Groundhog Club gained widespread fame primarily by being the first to the party. “It was 1886 when the first mention of Groundhog Day appeared in The Punxsutawney Spirit, which is one of the only newspapers in Punxsutawney,” says Michael Venos, creator and curator of the website, “Countdown To Groundhog Day.” “It was maybe the next year that they actually had some sort of celebration. By the early 20th century, some of these other groundhog lodges had begun to appear.” Despite his storied origin, the legend of Phil strains credulity. According to his website, Phil has been one continuous groundhog since 1887, one who is quite possibly undead or otherwise immortal at age 136. (The average groundhog lifespan in the wild is two to three years.) “That’s their official line—that it’s always been the same groundhog from the beginning,” Venos says. “According to the lore, on Groundhog Day, they give him a sip of this juice, which supposedly gives him seven more years of life.” After World War I, the phenomenon of groundhog lodges began to intersect with efforts to revive the Pennsylvania Dutch language. Today some Groundhog Day ceremonies are conducted entirely in Pennsylvania German, like Uni the Groundhog’s prediction event in Myerstown, Pennsylvania. Edwin Engle, president of Uni’s lodge, Groundhog Lodge #17, has been participating in Uni’s ceremony for 42 years. He says speaking Pennsylvania Dutch at the event helps keep the language alive. “I learned Pennsylvania Dutch from my grandfather,” says Engle. “We’ve had people bring homeschooled children to the ceremony, telling the kids ‘This involves your heritage—this is something you should know.’” Lodge # 17’s ceremony also boasts the unforgettable display of Uni, a taxidermy groundhog named after the Union Canal, being towed down the Tulpehocken Creek in a tiny boat. “That’s one of my favorites,” says Venos, who attended Uni’s ceremony last year. “They put this dead groundhog on a raft and pull it down the river. Then there is a guy who ‘talks’ to Uni, and gives his prediction in Pennsylvania Dutch. Another guy then translates from Pennsylvania Dutch into English.” The tongue-in-cheek aspect of Groundhog Day has become an essential component of these traditions. The elaborate pageantry of these largely male lodges and their fraternal ceremonies walk a fine line between faux earnestness and genuine absurdity. Take Octoraro Orphie’s tradition. In addition to performing skits and dancing a “Groundhog Jig,” new inductees to the lodge are outfitted with man-sized infant bonnets and pacifiers for their “baby year,” the lodge’s annual initiation rite. From each baby class, one is chosen for the quasi-baptismal honor of being “dunked” into the chilly Octoraro Creek on February 2nd. “They had to break the ice in the creek” for one friend’s baby year, recalls Bell. George “Skip” Lehman, Grand Communicator for Poor Richard, a taxidermized groundhog in York, Pennsylvania, says inductees to his lodge also don bibs and baby bonnets. The act of devotion that follows, however, might make a plunge into an icy creek seem like a Caribbean vacation: initiates must plant a kiss on the long-deceased mouth of their stuffed and mounted prophet. “We’re very safe, and he is sanitized,” says Lehman, a former local cable TV personality. “I don’t like to use the phrase ‘dry clean,’ but every other year we get him cleaned. Now, he doesn’t get dirty because he’s sealed in plastic. During COVID, we even had a little mask on him.” Lehmann, who says the funds raised from Poor Richard’s Groundhog Day ceremonies go to children’s charities such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Shriners Hospitals, demystified his prediction process—he consults the Farmer’s Almanac and local weathermen to make his forecast. “Then I read the predictions in poetic form,” he says. “Oh, God, they’re corny.” Pennsylvania Groundhogs aren’t the only animals getting in on the meteorological action either. “There are a lot of forecasters, and at this point, I might have just as many non-groundhogs as I do actual, live groundhogs,” says Venos, whose website compiles and tracks all the Groundhog Day predictions. “Just when I think my list is complete, I discover a new forecaster, like the alligator from Texas whose prediction is based on whether or not he eats chicken.” That alligator is 91-year-old Big Al, a 1,000 pound specimen who resides at Gator Country in Beaumont, Texas. “We’ve gone way past chicken at this point—he gets a nice steak dinner now,” says Arlie Hammonds, who, along with Gary Saurage, co-owns Gator Country, an adventure park and sanctuary that houses more than 450 alligators. “Whenever we do the Groundhog thing, I’ll go in the water and get him to open his mouth, and I’ll throw the steak in there. In the past, he has spit it out,” predicting six more weeks of winter (or so Hammonds attests). Similarly, followers of Scramble the Duck in Eastford, Connecticut, consider their aquatic prognosticator to be an “accurate alternative to the groundhog.” According to Isaac Torcellini, one of Scramble’s handlers, the waterfowl “graduated from Stormy Heights Academy and became Eastford’s weather predictor shortly thereafter.” “Scramble—and all ducks—are superior to groundhogs for a few reasons,” says Torcellini. “First, they spend time in the weather instead of hiding underground. Ducks commonly play in stormy weather and also have a sense of weather patterns for migration purposes.” Venos and his family have even added homemade sock puppet predictors Roxbury Rita, Edgewater Elsie, and Landing Lily to the lineup. Venos says he includes the “stats” of these puppets, created by himself and his daughters, on his page. “I’ve actually debated whether I should put those predictions in with the other ‘real’ ones,” Venos says. “But basically, as long as I’m not tipping the overall predictions one way or the other, I don’t have an issue with it. It’s another way to enjoy the day.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/alternative-groundhog-day-punxsutawney-phil

[handeaux]

Cincinnati Welcomed Groundhog Day As We Abandoned The Candlemas Holiday Police

Among the earliest references in Cincinnati to Groundhog Day was an announcement by John P. Ohmer, proprietor of Ohmer’s Garden in the East End. Mr. Ohmer, a confectioner by trade, maintained a miniature zoo at his picnic grounds and informed the Cincinnati Enquirer on 10 February 1869 that his own personal groundhog had predicted a mild winter:

“I have a groundhog among my collection of animals in the Zoological Hall. I watched him on the 2d. He came out of his den at precisely two o’clock and has been out, more or less, every day since that time. I have been in the building every day during the winter, and had not seen him before since the 1st of October last. I have been in a business that depends on fine weather for eighteen years, and always calculated on groundhog’s day as a certain guide to go by.”

Although Mr. Ohmer was born in Paris, France, he based his business plan on a superstition widely attributed to Native American tribes. So did the ice harvesters of Urbana, Ohio. Before refrigeration, our ancestors kept food in the ice box – literally a box with a block of ice atop it. To have enough ice to last the year, ice harvesters needed a good, thick layer on northern lakes. The winter of 1862 had been so mild that it looked bad for the ice industry, but the groundhog came through, according to the Enquirer [6 February 1862]:

“We have encouragement, however, from the fact, that on Sunday last, February 2, being ground-hog day, the sun shone out brightly, enabling his hogship to see his shadow, and causing him to retire to his den, which is regarded by many as a sure prognostic of hard weather for some six weeks to come.”

All indigenous poppycock, according to University of Cincinnati Professor of Botany Harris Benedict, who in 1926 told a gathering of garden clubs at the Alms Hotel:

“February was called ‘month of the hunger moon’ by the Indians and many hibernating animals appeared for a new food supply during that period, among them the groundhog.”

Common Pleas Court Judge John A. Caldwell believed that country traditions such as Groundhog Day were valid only in the country, but lost their efficacy in the chaos of urban life. He told the Cincinnati Post [2 February 1905]:

“City chaps, however, don’t put so much faith in the little animal’s prediction or in the many other ways a country man can prognosticate the weather. Who ever heard of [Cincinnati Weather Bureau Director Simon S.] Bassler looking at the trees or sniffing the breeze to find out whether it was going to rain or not? Yet people in the country can tell by the rustle of the leaves and the feel of the air when a shower is coming.”

Despite the dismissal of the scientific community, a variety of Groundhog Day traditions appear to predate the discovery of the North American rodent by several centuries. Groundhog Day happens to coincide with the ancient feast of Candlemas, around which many similar superstitions accrue. The Cincinnati Gazette published one of these Candlemas predictions on 3 February 1866:

“If Candlemas day be clear and bright,

Then winter has taken another flight;

If Candlemas day brings clouds and rain,

Then winter is gone not to return again.”

Although Groundhog Day is rather festive, especially in little towns like Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Candlemas carried some distinctly macabre connotations. If we see someone’s holiday decorations still hanging in May, we might joke about the “Holiday Police,” but the old folks were dead serious about Candlemas.

Candlemas is also known in various Christian sects as Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Feast of the Holy Encounter. It marks the canonical end of the Christmas season, and enforcement was brutal. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported [29 July 1863] that all Christmas decorations must be removed from churches before Candlemas. If a single leaf or berry escaped detection, a death would ensue in the family whose pew was polluted by the festive remnant.

“An old lady (now dead) whom I knew, was so persuaded of the truth of this superstition that she would not be contented to leave the clearing of her pew to the constituted authorities, but used to send her servant on Candlemas eve to see that her own seat, at any rate, was thoroughly freed from danger.”

Apparently having dispensed with every speck of holiday glitter, the Cincinnati Business Men’s Club attempted to introduce a note of frivolity into its Ground-Hog Day observance in 1904 by offering “Ground-Hog with puree of split peas” on its luncheon menu. According to the Cincinnati Post [3 February 1904]:

“One well-known business man started to leave the table, protesting that he’d never heard of ground-hog being eaten, and that it made him sick to think about it. He was reassured, however, when he was told that the ‘ground-hog’ was merely pork sausages sailing under a nom de plume.”

The Cincinnati Post reported [2 February 1897] that people throughout the United States universally recognized Groundhog Day, but were thoroughly confused how to interpret the groundhog’s shadow or lack thereof:

“In some localities the saying is that if he sees his shadow Feb. 2 he will be scared back into his hole and winter will rage for six weeks longer. Others have it that if he sees his shadow he will stay out and play with it, because spring is at hand. So it becomes a ground-hog case.”

A “groundhog case,” a phrase no longer in much use, referred to a what was also called a Hobson’s Choice – a choice that was really no choice at all.

[writer59january13]

Groundhog day - Thursday, February 2nd 2023

The date of the celebration (the second day of February) coincides

with medieval feast of Candlemas,

and its pre-Christian predecessor,

Imbolc, a day also rich in folklore.

An old Scottish prophecy foretells

sunny weather on Candlemas

means a long winter.

The tradition is recounted in this poem:

As the light grows longer The cold grows stronger If Candlemas be fair and bright Winter will have another flight If Candlemas be cloud and snow Winter will be gone and not come again A farmer should on Candlemas day Have half his corn and half his hay On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop You can be sure of a good pea crop.

Punxsutawney Phil is the focal point

of oldest and largest annual

Groundhog Day celebration,

held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania,

every year since 1886.

Members of Phil’s “Inner Circle”

claim he is now 137 years old, (rumor circulates this one groundhog lived

to make weather prognostications

since 1886, sustained by drinks

of "groundhog punch"

or "elixir of life" administered

at annual Groundhog

Picnic in the fall),

hence thanks to said magical

life-extending serum

they feed him each year—

and his predictions

one hundred percent accurate.

Groundhog day - Thursday, February 2nd 2023

Coincides with astronomy's first cross-quarter day,

marking the midpoint between

winter solstice and spring (vernal) equinox,

which will occur at 5:24 PM on

in Northern Hemisphere

Eastern Standard Time

Monday, March 20, 2023

Small consolation old man winter

spans fewest days

of all four seasons,

especially when

A powerful nor'easter

will develop in western Atlantic

beginning late Friday,

(February third two thousand and twenty three)

bringing heavy snow,

strong winds and

coastal flooding to parts

of the East Coast,

but there remains

a larger than usual amount

of uncertainty in forecast

for this storm.

Yours truly remembers

when spry Jack (hoar) Frost

(just yea high -

both arms stretched to sky)

came early, left late and bossed

zealous vernal equinox

rattling barenaked lady branches

obviously inapropos

to budding friendship.

Now (courtesy global warming/ climate change)

mother nature experiences feeling strange

within valleys and atop many mountain range,

wherein goods traded away on stock exchange.

Fortunate concerning yours truly

versus daring to brave

inclement treacherous weather

getting stranded in the process

(possibly becoming gratefully dead)

risking life and limb venturing forth

amidst near whiteout conditions

creating debacle perilous and grave

shoveling snow lest he get buried

he can remain holed up

(in tandem with the missus)

snug as a bug in his mancave.

While nestled inside warm abode for awhile

(at least until temperature upwards doth dial

safely ensconced against elements (of style),

I stopped at metaphoric woods edge

trekking until... for no rhyme nor reason

the poetic metered equivalent,

viz another mile

then stopped for coffee break

burst of energy gave me cause to smile

fording imponderable stream of consciousness

impossible (airy) mission to dodge regarding

aforesaid daunting task to craft worthwhile

poetic endeavor to entertain anonymous readers

gleaning how one bard (with his shaky spear)

evokes fiction being snowbound

as if cast adrift within Siberian exile.

Straightaway I continue writing askew

aware how literary trademark modality

characteristic of one hapless wordsmith

unwittingly indelibly embedded

analous to mine Caucasian

versus swarthy melanin hue

man automatically confers eligibility granting

innumerable known mighty opportunities

(privileged skin color - how unfair)

bigoted prejudices shade those

either hashtagged as black,

naturally copper toned gentile and/or Jew.

[bobcat-pie]

Punxsutawny Phil (Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather-Prophet Extraordinary), the magic groundhog used in the sacred Pennsylvanian rite of Groundhog’s Day, is said to be 132 years old, according to the inner circle of the Punxsutawny Groundhog Club. He has been forecasting the seasons since february 2nd, 1886. His unnatural lifespan is caused by a magic elixir he drinks every summer that extends his time on this earth by another 7 years.

[ecoeconomicepochs]

Oh no! Punxsutawney Phil Weather Prognosticator of the World's Competition in Ontario Canada is PSYCHIC ! Northern Ontario - Spanish Joe, the World's only Psychic Groundhog: 

http://northernontario.org/SpanishJoe/SJ6GroundhogsDay.htm

[beesmygod]

‪The practices and lore of Punxsutawney Phil's predictions are predicated on a light-hearted suspension of disbelief by those involved. According to the lore, there is only one Phil, and all other groundhogs are impostors. It is claimed that this one groundhog has lived to make weather prognostications since 1886, sustained by drinks of "groundhog punch" or "elixir of life" administered at the annual Groundhog Picnic in the fall. The lifespan of a groundhog in the wild is roughly six years.‬

i believe the groundhog punch is real, and i demand access to is for my own immortality