February 2nd brings the most-watched weather forecast of the year--and the only one led by a rodent! Legend has it that on this morning, if a groundhog can see its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If it cannot see its shadow, spring is on the way.
I don’t know about other places in the world but Groundhog Day is a big deal in my part of Pennsylvania. There is Phil in Punxsutawney, of course; he’s the most famous. But in my local area alone we have 5 groundhog lodges each checking on this day to see if their groundhog saw his shadow. We have Doug in Dover, Poor Richard in the city of York, Uni the groundhog in Myerstown, Octorara Orphie in Quarryville, Lancaster County and the newest from Berks County is Patty Pagoda. That’s a lot of groundhogs!
They’ve all seen their shadows this morning so I guess we’re in for six more weeks of winter. The truth of the matter is, whether the groundhogs see their shadows or not, spring will arrive as scheduled on March 21st.
