On February 2, 2011 at 7:20 EST, Punxsutawney Phil, the weather forecasting groundhog of Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, climbed out of his hole and reportedly did NOT see his shadow predicting that winter has ended and spring is on its way. Well, at least if he was not such a famous groundhog he would have climbed out of his hole. But, since the tradition of Groundhog Day and the founding of The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club in 1880’s, Phil has lived the life of no ordinary groundhog. He in fact lives the luxurious life of a pampered star.
When and why has Groundhog Day become such an important part of American tradition? It has its root with the Pilgrims. To the Pilgrims, it appeared that the animals had a certain time in which they would wake up from a long winter’s hibernation, emerge from their homes, and determine whether or not winter has truly passed. The groundhog was one such noted animal.
The tradition says that when a groundhog would emerge from his hole after winter hibernation he would look for his shadow. If it was a sunny day and he saw his shadow, the groundhog would take that to mean six more weeks of winter weather and crawl back into his hole to sleep some more. But, if the day was cloudy as he climbed out of his hole, then he would not see his shadow. He would take this as a sign that spring had arrived with nicer weather and happily stay above ground.
According to an old English song:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go Winter, and come not again.
In this tradition, every year, the nominated groundhog Punxsutawney Phil uses his powers to predict if winter has truly passed and we can anticipate the spring, or if we are in for another six more weeks of winter.
(Thanks to http://www.groundhog.org/ with the official web site on Groundhog Day.)
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