Last Thursday , when Mom brought our breakfast , she said , “ Punxsutawney Phil says we ’re have six more week of winter this year . ” Uzzi and I look at each other . It was 61 degrees — pretty spring - like , we thought — and who is Punxsutawney Phil ?
So on Thursday night when the lights went out , we crept indoors and bring up the computer . We could hardly conceive what we show . Punxsutawney Phil is a groundhog !
We have groundhogs on our farm . They ’re big , furry rodents that dig up long burrow in the ground . Some people call them woodchucks and Ozarkians call them whistle pigs , but they ’re rodent — not meteorologists !
We see thePunxsutawney Groundhog Clubwebsite to see what it ’s all about . At daybreak on Groundhog Day , Feb. 2 of every year , thousands of mass call in Gobbler ’s node near Punxsutawney , Pa. , to watch Punxsutawney Phil come out of his tunnel and wait around . If it ’s a sunny solar day , he sees his shadow ; that intend winter will hang around for six more weeks . If it ’s mirky , he has no trace and leap is just around the nook .
Punxsutawney Phil has been doing this since 1886 . That makes him a fairly sure-enough groundhog ! His handler , men shout the Inner Circle who jade top hats and tuxedos , supposedly give him a sip of sorcerous Groundhog Elixir each summertime to extend his life for seven more years . ( We do n’t think that , do you ? )
In 1993 , Punxsutawney Phil appeared with Bill Murray in a movie calledGroundhog Day , and in 1995 , he flew to Chicago to appear on “ The Oprah Winfrey Show . ” A famous toy dog society issued a serial of Punxsutawney Phil Beanie Babies wearing top hats , submit ties and sometimes capes .
Groundhog Day go back a very recollective time . According to the History Society of Berks County , Pa. , shopkeeper James Morris pen this journal incoming on Feb. 4 , 1841 :
“ Last Tuesday , the 2nd , was Candlemas day , the day on which , according to the Germans , the Groundhog peep out of his winter quarters and if he sees his apparition he pops back for another six weeks nap , but if the day be cloudy he remain out , as the conditions is to be restrained . ”
Groundhog Day is celebrated throughout the United States and Canada , except in Alaska where it ’s Marmot Day because there are few groundhogs in our northernmost state .
And Punxsutawney Phil is not the only Marmota monax meteorologist . There are sight more , like Buckeye Chuck of Marion , Ohio ; General Beauregard Lee in Lilburn near Atlanta ; Staten Island Chuck of Staten Island in New York City ; Sir Walter Wally of Raleigh , N.C. ; and Smith Lake Jake in Graysville , Ala. , to name a few . A girl groundhog called Queen Charlotte reports leap ’s comer ( or not ) , in Charlotte , N.C. Canadian Groundhog Day meteorologists let in Wiarton Willie in Wiarton , Ontario ; Alberta ; Sutton Sammy in Sutton , Ontario ; and Shubenacadie Sam in Shubenacadie , Nova Scotia . The list goes on and on .
Who knew !
« More Mondays with Martok »
