Groundhog Day

Of course, no time spent in the US would be complete without mentioning this annual ceremony that goes on in the town of Punxatawney, PA (Pennsylvania, in case you didn't know - and, yes, the place DOES exist!!). For those of you who wonder what the hell im going on about, try checking out the movie "Groundhog Day" - which IMHO is a modern day comedy classic. Anyway, every year on Feb 2nd (the day itself), a lot of the locals and people from the surrounding state(s) all gather in Punxatawney - a small town of 6,100 people about 65 miles NE of Pittsburgh (at Gobbler's Knob) to hear the forecast from the groundhog - affectionately known as Punxatawney Phil. Anyway, its up to Phil to tell us if we're going to have an early spring.

Apparently, the legend originages with the Germans as they believed that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on the Christian holiday of Candlemas (i.e. Feb 2nd) then winter will last another six weeks; if no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early - the Americans chose the groundhog to explain this. So, the whole ceremony has gone on for quite a while (119 years) and in this time, 'Phil' has seen his shadow 96 times, not seen a shadow 14 times and apparently there are no records for 9 years on the way (maybe they were lost in the snow showers or something!). This year, alas, there was bad news - he saw a shadow - but that didn't stop the gathering crowds turning it into an impromptu revelry focused around the Superbowl this Sunday (hey, they're Americans after all). Anyway, after the busy day i've had, i sure as hell hope i don't have to go over it again tomorrow (watch the movie and you'll understand).