Centerfold: Punxatawney Phil Groundhog

Growing up we always celebrated Groundhog’s Day not because of that furry marmot but because it was my brother’s birthday. Happy birthday bro!

We probably thought about Feb. 2 more than most because of the coincidence of the day but in later years living in warmer climes, not so much.

I woke up thinking about Punxsutawney Phil today. What does he do the rest of year? Hibernate? Fornicate? Watch reruns of that quirky movie with Bill Murray?

According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

Groundhog Day is like Halloween for men who like to wear black top hats. They are know as the Inner Circle who call the shots. Why are there no women in the Inner Circle? Maybe wearing black top hats and getting up in the wee hours of a cold morning in the middle of winter to judge a marmot is just not a girl thing.

If you believe there is only one Punxsutawney Phil then you probably believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy.

This will be Punxsutawney Phil’s 127th prediction. According to the official Groundhog Day website, Phil has 100% accuracy. In 2012 Phil saw his shadow or six more weeks of winter.

You can watch Phil come out starting at 5:45 a.m. EST (FlashPlayer required)

Is anyone keeping score? Apparently so, According to Stormfax.com, Punxsutawney Phil has only been correct approximately 39% of the time. Phil has seen his shadow nearly 87% of the time, so the odds are for six more weeks of winter.

When not huddled in his Gobbler’s Knob hole waiting for burly bearded men wearing top hats to pick him up and present him to the world,  Phil weighs 15 pounds and thrives on dog food and ice cream in his climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library. I hope the dog food is not made in China.

Happy Groundhog’s Day 2013!

(photo: courtesy Tucson Citizen)

Punxsatawney Phil for President

Happy GroundHog Day – February 2, 2012

On February 1, the day after the Florida Republican primary, Punxsutawney Phil GroundHog was trending higher on Yahoo than Mitt Romney.

Perhaps Punxsutawney Phil GroundHog should be running for President?

By a sheer bit of nut luck I was able to interview the most famous of marmots. Here’s what he had to say:

Reporter: How can you attest to being so popular?

Punxsutawney Phil: It’s the middle of winter, a season most people are sick of by now. It’s the flu season. It’s the shovel the snow season. It’s the flights delayed due to bad weather season. It’s the high utility bill season. What else do these people have to do? I give them hope. They have to only listen to my rhetoric once a year unlike those god awful debates that drone on and on. I got you babe.

Reporter: What do you say to the skeptics who don’t think your winter prophesies are on target?

Punxsutawney Phil: Like any agenda, people will debate it. Are you going to believe me, the most famous ground hog prognosticator in the land or are you going to believe something as flim flam as the U.S. Weather Service? Nobody trusts government any more. I got you babe.

Reporter: Why is there only one GroundHog that makes the determination of when winter will end?

Punxsutawney Phil: You want a committee? Get serious. When has a committee ever been able to make a unanimous decision about anything lately? I got you babe.

Reporter: What do groundhogs do the rest of the year?

Punxsutawney Phil: We mate, forage, hibernate, spawn, play, explore. Fortunately for you we do very little pontificating. I got you babe.

Reporter: Who is Punxsutawney Phyllis?

Punxsutawney Phil: Ah, that sweet thing is my niece and she keeps me on my toes. She is so popular that she even has a series of books in her name. Now I can see her going into politics some day. I got you babe.

Reporter: Do you have any departing words for your bipartisan fans?

Punxsutawney Phil: Yes, if you cannot be here in beautiful Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in person freezing you butt off at sunrise with a lot of other nut jobs then tune in on February 2 – GroundHog Day and you can watch me via live streaming media. I got you babe.

For more groundhog trivia, forage here.

Groundhogs hibernate until spring

Ground hogs as pets, I don’t think so. Nevertheless, February 2 is Ground Hog Day as well as my brother’s birthday (happy birthday bro!).

If you lived in the desert or warmer climes your whole life, the significance of Ground Hog Day* might just be a crazy movie starring Bill Murray.  Having lived my informative years in the Midwest, we’d wake up demanding to know if the ground hog did indeed see his shadow. As to the real scientific significance of whether he sees his shadow and whether or not there will indeed be six more weeks of winter is a real toss-up at least in my skeptical brain.

And really who is keeping score?

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club is keeping score and claims that Punxsutawney Phil has correctly predicted the weather every time but the U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has estimated that Phil is only correct about 40 percent of the time. We need some bi-partisan buy-in here.

And who really cares?

Well, I guess if you live on the East coast, the Midwest, or the heartland, you probably want winter to end sooner vs. later. Here as desert dwellers, I’d like to find a meaningful prediction perhaps from the javelina or maybe the humming bird as to when will be the first 100-degree day.

As a kid before the Internet, I wondered what the groundhog did the rest of the year. Why did we ignore this animal only to be slightly curious about its habits  on Feb. 2?

Here are a few groundhog factoids:

The groundhog is also known as a whistle pig, a woodchuck, and a land beaver and comes from the large squirrel family known as marmots. I guess Marmot Day doesn’t have the same finesse as Ground Hog Day.

You can stream it live but you have to get up really early.

Only one groundhog makes an appearance to determine the fate of how soon winter will be over. His name is always Punxsutawney Phil. That sounds like sex discrimination to me. Where is Punxsutawney Phyllis?

People in Punxsutawney, Pa. have a four-day festival leading up to Ground Hog’s Day. That just goes to show you that there is not much to do in that part of the world. When I was living near Pa., my very first boyfriend bragged about the fact that he was born in Punxsutawney. I’m sure he’s moved on.

There’s a wedding chapel in Punxsutawney and people can get married on Feb. 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. I guess then there’s no excuse to forget  your anniversary.

*Here’s a trivia question: What song kept repeating on the radio in the movie, Ground Hog Day?

Source: Groundhog.org