Do You Know What This Monday Is?

It is the day after Superbowl XLIX  (Why the Roman numerals? A historian says the fancy numbering made the game seem more important.)

But more importantly it is February 2nd.......GROUNDHOG DAY !!

A little history:

Many German settlers ended up in Pennsylvania, where they found groundhogs instead of badgers. Here, the tradition began to use groundhogs to predict the duration of winter. If the day was cloudy, the groundhog would stay above ground, meaning that winter would soon be over. If the day was sunny, the groundhog would grow scared of its shadow and return to its burrow, meaning six more weeks of winter. It gradually evolved into an observance in the late nineteenth century and is closely associated with the Candlemas, a Christian celebration, the second day of which falls on February 1st.

Now a little more history:

 In the years following the release of Groundhog Day, a 1993 film starring Bill Murray, crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in Punxsutawney where the ceremony takes place.

Where exactly is Punxsutawney?
Punxsutawney is located in Western Pennsylvania, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

How did Phil get his name?
The groundhog's full name is actually "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary." It was so proclaimed by the "Punxsutawney Groundhog Club" in 1887, the same year they declared Punxsutawney to be the weather capital of the world.

Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow 97 times, has not seen it 15 times, and nine years are unaccounted for.

The National Climatic Data Center reportedly stated that Phil's prediction's have been correct 39 percent of the time. This number is in conflict with Phil's club, which states he's been right 100 percent of the time.

According to the funny website groundhog.org, there's a legend that during Prohibition, Phil threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn't allowed a drink.

Though groundhogs typically live only six to eight years, Groundhog Day lore suggests that Phil drinks a magic elixir every summer, which gives him seven more years of life.

OUR CONTRIBUTION

Just in case Punxsutawney Phil doesn't make his annual appearance this Monday, we have asked our local resident visitor Pest, Pikesville Phil, shown below,  to do his own prognosticating of which the results will be posted sometime Monday.

 I say Pest because our guy loves to eat the plants in the garden.  He has pulled down 5' tall sunflowers and filled his belly......he loves hostas, gailardias, and most any plant we find attractive.  He makes his appearance in mid to late summer and hangs around till late fall.  He is very shy and runs when he sees us but soon returns to continue his destructive ways.  He enjoys the birdseed like his relatives the squirrels.

In my eyes he is nothing but a huge hairy rat.
Here's hoping one of them doesn't see his shadow!