A Winter's Tale

Turns out the Sear of Sears and Prognosticator of Prognosticators, Punxsutawney Phil, was correct in his prediction of six more weeks of winter.  This is what we woke up to:

But what does a sleepy, furry marmot have to do with seasonal change?

The story of Groundhog Day begins with Candlemas, an early Christian holiday where candles were blessed and distributed.  Celebrators of the holiday eventually declared clear skies on Candlemas meant a longer winter.  The Roman legions, during the conquest of northern countries, brought this tradition to the Germans, who concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, a hedgehog would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather, or a 'Second Winter'.  German immigrants brought the tradition to Pennsylvania, but how did Punxsutawney Phil emerge?

In 1887, a spirited group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney dubbed themselves "The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club".  One member was an editor of a Punxsutawney's newspaper.  Using his ink, he proclaimed Punxsutawney Phil, the local groundhog, to be the one and only weather prognosticating groundhog.  He issued this proclamation on Candlemas, and yes Groundhog Day.  Phil's fame spread, and newspapers from around the globe began to report his Gobbler's Knob prediction. Today you will find 20,000+ in attendance and million watching on television or via the web.

And you know what, I was one of them this year, thanks to Toots learning about it at school and the kids encouraged to find out the results for themselves.  Of course she wasn't actually at home when it was on...  The girls weren't even home from their sleepover early enough to play in the snow before it all started melting (I mean don't get me wrong, it was nice that they stayed and played till almost tea time!), but maybe we'll still get some more during our Second Winter. After all, it's been predicted...