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All my life, Groundhog's
Day has come and gone annually, but I never did understand exactly what it was.
Well, I did a little research this year, and now it's time to clue you in on this North
American holiday.
First of all, Groundhog's Day is based on tradition. It is celebrated by Americans on February
2 each year, with the belief that on that day, a groundhog
comes out of its hole, and looks around for its shadow. If the shadow is seen, the groundhog will be frightened and return to his hole for six more weeks of hibernation, giving us six more weeks of winter. If there's no shadow, it's going to be spring time soon!
The groundhog will only see his shadow if the sun is shining, because you can't see your shadow
on a cloudy day. Some people like to joke around, calling groundhogs furry little
weather forecasters!
But not just any groundhog can make this special decision. The official groundhog for the U.S.
is Punxsutawney Phil, of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. In fact, Phil creates quite
a riot. Punxsutawney Phil has made his home at Gobbler's Knoll, where people
gather every February 2. Local residents claim that the groundhog has never
been wrong.
Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow about 90% of the time. The groundhog
has been making predictions since 1887, and has become an American legend, though there are other towns with their own weather-forecasting groundhogs.
"But why February 2nd?" you may ask. Well, let me explain. The roots
of this holiday can be traced all the way to the 6th Century, 1400, years ago!
You see,
February 2 is 40 days after Christmas, and known as Candlemas Day in Christianity.
In history, this day was quite well known. Also, February 2 is
around the mid-point of winter (in weather terms, not astronomically). It's
said that around the 6th Century, Germans began predicting how much longer winter would continue
based on the hibernation patterns of bears. When the Germans settled in Pennsylvania,
they changed the animal they were observing from bears to groundhogs.
As you
can see, having Groundhog Day on February 2nd is not so random after all.
Now that the meaning of Groundhog Day is cleared up, I hope that the holiday
will be even more enjoyable!
Love,
Girlie191
Information from:
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/class/hogday.html
http://groundhog-day.123holiday.net/
http://www.gojp.com/groundhog/
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