Monday, February 2, 2009

Groundhog Day

Since when do we let little furry rodents predict our weather? Since about 1887 apparently, when the first Punxsutawney Phil made his appearance in Pennsylvania, carrying on an Eastern European tradition that originally involved hedgehogs. Who knew?
Earlier today, all three of the varmints we rely on here in Ontario, Wiarton Willie, Schubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia and the aforementioned Phil, predicted six more weeks of winter for us. The good news is, the National Climate Data Centre says the wee animals are right only 39% of the time, so it might not be as bad as it seems.
The joke is, either way, we get at least six more weeks of winter as spring doesn't officially arrive until mid March anyway. Gosh, those settlers were a laugh a minute, weren't they?
In reality, those groundhogs aren't coming out to see if it's a sunny day, they're looking to get lucky. They're driven from their burrows by the need to procreate.
I don't know about you, but somehow the idea that groundhogs are getting more action than I am is even more depressing than the idea of six more weeks of winter!

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