February 2nd is Groundhog Day: How close is Spring, really?
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February 2nd is Groundhog Day, a day that has been looked upon for centuries to determine the arrival of spring.
Nowadays the tradition is purely for entertainment purposes. Hollywood made a motion picture appropriately titled “Groundhog Day” and each year thousands of people descend upon Gobbler’s Knob in a small town in Pennsylvania to see if the infamous Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow or not.
Groundhog Day’s first modern observance can be traced back to 1886 when the Punxsutawney Spirit printed “Today is Groundhog day, and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen his shadow.” A year later the famed tradition of gathering at Gobbler’s Knob began.
The tradition can be traced centuries back with the majority of legendary myths taking place in Germany and other areas of Europe where the furry animal of choice was actually a Hedgehog. The tradition states that if the Hedgehog sees his shadow he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of inclement weather and returns to his hole. If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.
Hundred’s of years ago people took the tradition seriously but the whole scenario seems a little odd as to why they needed an animal to perform the observation when a overcast sky ensured no shadow would be cast.
The Romans supposedly brought the tradition to the Germans, and in their history the Groundhog was regarded as a wise and sensible animal. Pennsylvania was largely settled by the Germans and they found the Groundhog to be a worthy comparison to the European Hedgehog giving birth to the North American tradition.
Western Europe celebrated a day in early February called Candlemas Day where clergy blessed candles and distributed them to people, it marked a milestone and the weather was certainly an important factor in the event.
In New England, late 1800’s farmers new they were not close to the end of winter when the calendar turned to February 2, regardless of how cloudy the sky was and had a saying “Groundhog Day-Half your hay.” If the farmer didn’t have half his hay remaining, lean times were certainly in store for his livestock.
As time went by the legend of Punxsutawney Phil grew and during the dark days of Prohibition Phil once threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter if he wasn’t allowed to consume a certain drink.
The famed groundhog wore a yellow ribbon in 1981 for the American Hostages in Iran and later appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in 1995.
His 2001 prediction was telecast live on the jumbotron in Times Square in New York where the fame New Years ball is dropped each year.
In North Central Montana,the weather is certainly way to unpredictable for the wisest of Groundhogs to predict. In 2016 golf courses were being played daily through the month of February and two years prior the temperature never rose above freezing until March. 2012 saw winter blizzards the end of May.
Famed comedian Jim Gaffigan refereed to spring in the northern states as a “Good Day” referring to the rapid change in seasons. One day you need extra clothing to stay warm, 24 hours later its 105 and you can’t cool off.
As predictably unpredictable Montana weather can be, I find this to be as true as any myth about the arrival of spring. The first time your driving down any road in the county and see the famed Richardson Ground Squirrel, AKA Gopher, you can be assured spring is right around the corner.
In actuality the gophers return in the spring coincides with warming ground temperatures and is part of their mating cycle. When the male gopher feels the weather is appropriate the cycle begins and six weeks later an litter of the not so loved rodent arrives. So it is somewhat reliable, I guess. It certainly seems as good as any!
