Author Information
PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL
Since 1886 thousands of people have been traveling to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania every Groundhog Day to see if they’re in for 6 more weeks of winter or if spring is on its way.
Yesterday Phil the groundhog saw his shadow on his special day…predicting 6 more weeks of winter is about to head our way.
A fun fact: the German’s brought this tradition with them to America with one slight contradiction…In Europe they looked to hedgehogs for their end of winter prediction.
But they couldn’t find hedgehogs in Pennsylvania and, at first, were unsure what to do…
until they noticed Phil and his abundance of relatives and thought…groundhogs will do.
Since then every year people gather in Punxsutawney anticipating the news about their clime…it doesn’t matter to them that Phil’s gets it right only 39% of the time.
I mean come on people if you’re really want to know what nature has in store…turn on the your TV set...that’s what Doppler radar’s for!
No, we tune in to Punxsutawney on Groundhog day not for the magic but the mystique.
because in a world that’s constantly changing it is tradition that we seek.
In a world that’s moving not always in the direction we would like….but always much too fast…we return to our traditions and our ceremonies that remind us of our past.
Perhaps in Phil we see a simpler time, with less responsibilities and woe
when all we had to worry about was the an early spring or a little more winter snow.
As for me I don’t care if Phil is some kind of climate prodigy or if he’s not a weather whiz
Because I live in Florida and in Florida…no matter what Phil sees…
we have no idea what winter is.
