Groundhog Day is celebrated in the U.S. each year on February 2nd. On this day in mid-winter, the groundhog awakens from a long winter's nap, and goes outside of his den to see if he sees his shadow. This tradition is big on an otherwise cold and dreary mid-winter's day.
According to legend, if the groundhog sees his shadow (a sunny morning), there will be six more weeks of winter. He then returns to his den and goes back to sleep. If however, he does not see his shadow (cloudy days), he plays around outside of his hole for a while. If he does not see his shadow, spring is just around the corner.
The Groundhog's Day tradition travelled long ways. It comes from German roots. German immigrants brought the tradition with them from Germany. As they settled in hills of Pennsylvania, they began the tradition of using the Groundhog to predict the the arrival of Spring. The tradition is based upon Candlemas, the day that is the midpoint between Winter and Spring. A famous Candlemas poems goes:
If Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter has another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again.
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania is the site of the annual Ground Hog event. Our little rodent friend (yes, Groundhogs are classified as rodents) is called Punxsutawney Phil. There are a few other "predictors" around the country, but they all pale in comparison to Phil's ability to predict the remainder of winter.
For the Record Phil sees his shadow about 9 out of 10 times
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Posted: Wednesday February 1, 2006, 9:07 pm Tags: [add/edit tags]
7 Characteristics of
HopeHope "lights a
candle" instead of
"cursing the
darkness."Hope opens
doors where despair
closes them.Hope looks
for the good in people
instead of harping on the
worst in them.Hope
discovers what can be
done ...
Softly the evening came.
The sun from the western
horizon like a magician
extended his golden want
o'er the landscape;
trinkling vapors arose;
and sky and water and
forest seemed all on fire
at the touch, and melted
and mingled together.-
Henry Wadswo...
The Road Not TakenTwo
roads diverged in a
yellow wood,And sorry I
could not travel both And
be one traveler, long I
stood And looked down one
as far as I could To
where it bent in the
undergrowth; Then took
the other, as just as
fair, And having perha...
Simple Things Simple
things are lovely things.
Rain, dropping from the
eaves, Is molten silver
streaming down, Upon the
fallen leaves. The thick,
gray mantle of the fog,
Hides everything from
view. Footsteps make a
hollow sound, When
they're unseen by...
Sean Goldman is still in
Brazil! Please make sure
that you have signed the
petition demanding the
return of this child to
his father. Currently,
the petition has over
55,000 signatures but
needs as much support as
possible.
click here
Also, please v...
The author is Professor
Robert Watson of Lynn
University who was
once a writer for the New
York Times.
Professor Watson writes:
Hi friends,
I am always being asked
to grade Obama's
presidency. In place of
offering him a grade, I
put togethe...
The inner most partI
guess restlessness is a
real problem with me much
of the time. The
feeling that there is
something ‘out
there’ that needs
to be done, the desire to
move at any cost and at
bottom, a fear of com...
I wish all my friends and
all the people of the
world a happy
Thanksgiving.
Let's all just be nice
and love one another.
hasta luego amigos and
amigas
Tommy
You probably won't hear
anything in the news
about this anniversary
until the 50th is
reached.
However, I realized that
it is significant in the
fact that Kennedy was
forty-six years old at
the time of his death.
For those who were alive
and old en...
Blog: AP IMPACT: A stream of WH health care visits by HM S.
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— WASHINGTON -- President
Barack Obama's top aides
met frequently with
lobbyists and health care
industry heavyweights as
his administration pieced
together a national
health care overhaul,
according to White House
visitor records obtained
Wednesday by ... more
Blog: Activist group posting 573,000 9/11 pager messages by HM S.
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— NEW YORK -- An activist
group has begun posting
573,000 pager messages
purportedly sent on Sept.
11, 2001, from "Second
World Trade Center tower
collapses" to "I'm ok
& love
you..xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox." more
Blog: More remains found at home of missing Calif. teen by HM S.
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— HEMET, Calif. --
Investigators found more
charred human remains at
the home of one of two
missing Southern
California boys as a
third teen turned up safe
Wednesday. more