The Irony of the Groundhog

We have endured far too many days in a row with no sunshine. Every day, the same gray skies on bright, white snow. Occasionally adding a little fog to the view. That’s why we are all so ecstatic to hear that the forecast will be sunny – and almost 50° on Sunday. That sounds fantastic!

And then I realized… Sunday is Groundhog Day.

Wouldn’t you know it? The one day that we need the skies to be cloudy, and it’s going to be sunny! How can this be possible?

For those who are unaware -- and want to be in the know -- our friendly groundhog, who is also known as a woodchuck, is a rather large rodent belonging to the marmot family. He will be the one who decides our fate regarding the duration and intensity of our current winter season. Intrigued? Here’s how it goes.

This woodchuck hung out in our Maple tree
some years ago. Who knew they climbed trees?

If we are blessed with a sunny day when he peeks out of his burrow, the groundhog will be frightened by his own shadow, causing him to run back into his burrow. This behavior predicts that we will have to endure a much longer, cold winter. However, a cloudy day will send him happily on his way, and we rejoice that we will enjoy a shortened, milder winter season. The weird coincidence is that this often rings true! At least it does here with our local rodent predictor. I’m not kidding! I know. I keep track of these things.

I heard on the radio that PETA was protesting the treatment of Punxsutawny Phil, the most famous of these furry harbingers of good or bad news (depending on your perspective of winter). Anyway, they are saying that to disrupt this creature's natural rhythms for our entertainment is cruel, and that an animatronic groundhog should be created instead. Really? That really negates the whole idea, doesn’t it? How would that even work?

Then I read about our groundhog in Milwaukee, a captive bred fellow with a good life, who is a descendent of many previous generations of captive bred groundhogs who had good lives in these folks’ care. The staff explained how they begin to prepare the little guy to come out on his day. Groundhogs are naturally mostly hibernating this time of year, so they coax him out daily with a peanut. I think if I were hibernating I could be coaxed out with a peanut. For him, it works!

By Feb. 2^nd, it is completely up to the star to show up, or not! Our local marmot is not forced from his slumber, only lured out with the promise of a peanut – or peanut butter! – and that is usually all it takes for him to make an appearance. Then we base our hopes on an earlier Spring on how timid he is feeling that day.

So watch the skies tomorrow. It is predicted that we will actually see the sun after endless days of overcast skies.

Finally, we will see the sun on the one day that we really need clouds for our dear groundhog to promise us an early spring. 

Whatever happens, we hearty souls will endure. And perhaps we will begin to think ahead to a Springtime trip to somewhere that is warm and sunny. 

That’s my plan! Enjoy!

What's Up with that Groundhog?

Sometime through the wee hours of the night, relentless winds that had blown snow horizontally for nearly a full day ceased. The storm was over, leaving behind a palette of white with crazy drifts and designs in the newly fallen snow.

Temperatures plummeted to single digits, with wind chills flirting below zero.


Welcome to February in Wisconsin.

The morning dawns with clear skies ushering in happy thoughts of bright sunshine on dazzling new white snow. 

Then I remembered: It's Groundhog Day.

Oh no! That means 6 more weeks of winter if that furry little rodent sees his shadow!

But wait! Is it just Punxsutawney Phil who predicts weather for the whole nation? If so, this storm shouldn't have cleared out of the Northeast yet, thus, it's still cloudy there and spring will be early. 

Snow sculpted around the tree trunks

I've always held to the philosophy that some little Wisconsin groundhog was responsible for predicting our early spring because it's usually cloudy here and clear wherever Phil pokes his head out. 

I'm forever the optimist. 

But how in the world did we ever decide to get long term weather reports from a rodent? 

It turns out Punxsutawney Phil isn't the only groundhog show out there! Several other furry friends have their own websites, including Wiarton Willie in Ontario, Staten Island Chuck (more formally referred to as Charles G. Hogg), and this year Birmingham Bill (the Birmingham, Alabama Zoo woodchuck) is deferring to Punxsutawney Phil for his prediction (no explanation given). There are others, too. Raleigh, North Carolina has Sir Walter Wally and Atlanta has General Beau Lee. 

Every tree is ringed this way

And here in our blissfully brrrrrr state of Wisconsin, we have Jimmy. Until this day I had no idea that Sun Prairie, Wisconsin is "The Official Groundhog Capital of the World". What a claim to fame!




Did you know that in Washington, D.C. they use a stuffed groundhog for their predictions. What's up with that?

Love the designs the wind drew in the snow

Sadly, I've just read that Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow, despite overcast skies (how is that possible?) 

That makes it a double whammy, or maybe a triple, if you count Jimmy and looking out into my own backyard. 

(However, I've discovered the real truth is that Phil's prediction is decided ahead of time by know-it-alls on Gobbler's Knob. Say it isn't so!)

So we settle in for a long February. 

How is it that the shortest month of the year can seem the longest? 

Sunshine on snow really does sparkle like diamonds!

Let's look at this this way: we've made it through January with not much snow or bitter cold. And WE'VE MADE IT THROUGH JANUARY! It's always a little victory to know that the first month of the new year's winter is behind us.

And after we sail through February (ahem) it will be MARCH and we can look forward to crazy winds every day and unpredictable temperature swings and even more snow and ice, because any good northerner knows, spring does not arrive with the Gregorian calendar in the upper Midwest. Rather, we might get a glimpse of Spring in early April, if we are lucky.

So, hunker down. Make some more hot cocoa, grab an extra blanket for the bed and toss another log on the fire. It's winter in Wisconsin, and despite the predictions of a furry rodent and the foreboding of 6 more weeks of winter, we already know that to be true here in our northern clime. 

We might as well find ways to enjoy it. I'm getting out my snowshoes and layering on the clothes and heading out into the brilliantly bright, snowy world. Keep warm, my friends!

 

Here are some pictures of a woodchuck who visited us and hung out in my maple tree a few years back. The little guy wasn't sure what to make of this lady and her camera. 




 



I've since learned that another name for the woodchuck (or groundhog) is a whistling pig, due to a whistling noise they make! There's your trivia for the day!