Happy Groundhog Day ❄

Happy Groundhog Day!!!  

How adorable :)

Today we celebrated one of the strangest, most bizarre of American holidays - Groundhog Day.  Yep, you heard it right.  There is a whole square on the calendar dedicated to the meteorology skills of a small furry rodent :)

If you're unfamiliar with the Groundhog Day tradition, here are the basics:

• the most famous groundhog is named Punxsutawney Phil and he lives in the city library of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
• there are 25 other groundhogs across the US, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta that participate in the tradition
• around 7:30am on the 2nd of February the groundhogs emerge from their burrows
• if they see their shadow and are scared back in to their burrow, winter will continue for 6 more weeks
• if they do not see their shadow, spring will come early ✿
• there's a movie titled Groundhog Day where Bill Murray keeps reliving the same day over and over again until he gets it right

The tradition is a bit strange, but apparently it's a Pennsylvania German tradition dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.  And according to Wikipedia, it is similar to Imbolc which is the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar that occurs February 1 (...?).  I don't know if that's true or not :)  

Unfortunately, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today so there will be 6 more weeks of winter :(  Conveniently, however, the spring solstice occurs in 6 weeks.  So regardless of whether there is a shadow or not, there will always be 6 more weeks of winter!

I hope you enjoyed your bit of American folklore for the day!

Happy Groundhog Day,

Nicole