Happy Groundhog Day!
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2 in the United States (most notably Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania) and Canada. “According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.” (from Wikipedia)
So what do we do here in Arizona in the great Southwest, watch the prairie dog or the ground squirrel emerge from their burrows today?
prairie dog emerging
I grew up in Hawaii where we had no groundhogs, or prairie dogs, or ground squirrels either for that matter. We didn’t even have cute squirrels. All we had (and still have) were fierce mongoose (mongooses?), which had no burrows.
The first time I ever heard of a groundhog animal was from that popular and hilarious 1993 movie, “Groundhog Day”, where the main character Bill Murray keeps repeating February 2nd over and over and over…
Happy Groundhog Day anyway!
And to repeat myself, Happy Groundhog Day today.
movie poster
