Groundhog Day

It must be acknowledged in my blog that the Steelers have won the Super bowl. The biggest sporting even in America. That is all that I will say about if for now. 

I would like to turn my attention to the phenomena of Groundhog Day. 

First off, there is a kick-A movie about the strange holiday. It is one of my dad's favorite movies and it is always on TV. I used to despise watching it, but I find myself tuning into it whenever it is on now. It is funny how we tend to like things that remind us of our childhood, and that movie is just one of those things. 

Secondly, I think it is amazing of this ritual has survived over time. It isn't known exactly how the tradition began, but its current form originates from the early 1800's in Pennsylvania. I love how the tradition stands the test of time. 

I was just reading about about an American immigrant and I marveled at his home country's customs that carried over into his American life. From the food he ate, the company he kept and rights of passage that survived from his former life. As I read about this, I wondered what customs from my culture do I carry with me, there are many but Groundhog Day counts as one of them.

In 2008 14 different groundhogs predicted the fate of the cold winter.  Punxsutawney Phil is the  most famous groundhog and last year he predicted six more weeks on winter. While I realize that it is ludicrous to assume that a small animal can tell how longer winter is going to last, I distinctly remember media day with the Salt Lake Bees on April 1, when it had snowed so much the day before. In my mind a long winter was just the right assessment. 

So tomorrow morning a little groundhog will tell me whether or not I will not need to scrape the ice of my windshield every single morning from now until June. I am hoping that tomorrow is a cloudy day and Phil does not retreat to his burrow because I don't know how much more of the freezing cold winter I can take.