These days keep happening
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Ah, one of the many questions I field on this day, every year. The most asked, of course, is "Did you see your shadow today?" You see, today is Groundhog Day, which coincides with my birthday. To make matters worse, I am also a victim of coincidence in that my name is Phil, which I share with a certain famous four-legged weather prognosticator from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
I guess I should appreciate this little humorous convergence of events, because it does serve as a reminder to people who know me that today is, indeed, my birthday. Sadly, this does not seem to translate into an increase in gifts.
As for my most-asked question? Indeed I did see my shadow today, albeit not as I emerged from my burrow upon awakening, but as I got out of the car at work this morning. No shadows were cast prior, since it was too early in the morning and the sun had yet to rise. By the time I had gotten to That Place Which Pays My Bills (among other things), the sun had cracked over the horizon, and my shadow was cast.
Six more weeks of winter, bitches! X-D
Now, I will let you in on a little secret kept by us members of marmota monax (co-species noogies to danlmarmot!). Shadow or no, there is always six more weeks of winter beyond this most illustrious day. It's pure astrological fact, as there is no way to move the actual seasons! If anything, it's an old German wive's tale mixed in with Candlemas and the Gaelic/Celtic/Pagan ritual of Imbolc. The Welsh know it as Gŵyl y Canhwyllau, which apparently would not exist without the letter "y", much less the Welsh themselves. Nor would Lynyrd Skynyrd. But. I. Digress.
If you look at your calendars (and you live in North America, land of this silly tradition as it exists today) you will see that the official start of Spring, which occurs on March 20, is not quite seven weeks from today's date. This little ritual is not meant to alter the arrangement of the seasons, people. Instead, it's meant to predict the severity of winter weather (cold, snow, ice, awards shows) during those six weeks' time. As far as weather prognostication goes, us Groundhogs are not much worse than NOAA or your local quirky weathermanperson, despite not having all the cool meteorological tools at our disposal.
So please, stop blaming me for the snow, scraping of windshields, frozen pipes and snowball fusillades from the neighborhood kids that might happen between now and the start of kite-flying season. It ain't my fault.
As far as the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this post? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood!
Ah, one of the many questions I field on this day, every year. The most asked, of course, is "Did you see your shadow today?" You see, today is Groundhog Day, which coincides with my birthday. To make matters worse, I am also a victim of coincidence in that my name is Phil, which I share with a certain famous four-legged weather prognosticator from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
I guess I should appreciate this little humorous convergence of events, because it does serve as a reminder to people who know me that today is, indeed, my birthday. Sadly, this does not seem to translate into an increase in gifts.
As for my most-asked question? Indeed I did see my shadow today, albeit not as I emerged from my burrow upon awakening, but as I got out of the car at work this morning. No shadows were cast prior, since it was too early in the morning and the sun had yet to rise. By the time I had gotten to That Place Which Pays My Bills (among other things), the sun had cracked over the horizon, and my shadow was cast.
Six more weeks of winter, bitches! X-D
Now, I will let you in on a little secret kept by us members of marmota monax (co-species noogies to danlmarmot!). Shadow or no, there is always six more weeks of winter beyond this most illustrious day. It's pure astrological fact, as there is no way to move the actual seasons! If anything, it's an old German wive's tale mixed in with Candlemas and the Gaelic/Celtic/Pagan ritual of Imbolc. The Welsh know it as Gŵyl y Canhwyllau, which apparently would not exist without the letter "y", much less the Welsh themselves. Nor would Lynyrd Skynyrd. But. I. Digress.
If you look at your calendars (and you live in North America, land of this silly tradition as it exists today) you will see that the official start of Spring, which occurs on March 20, is not quite seven weeks from today's date. This little ritual is not meant to alter the arrangement of the seasons, people. Instead, it's meant to predict the severity of winter weather (cold, snow, ice, awards shows) during those six weeks' time. As far as weather prognostication goes, us Groundhogs are not much worse than NOAA or your local quirky weathermanperson, despite not having all the cool meteorological tools at our disposal.
So please, stop blaming me for the snow, scraping of windshields, frozen pipes and snowball fusillades from the neighborhood kids that might happen between now and the start of kite-flying season. It ain't my fault.
As far as the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this post? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood!