John Sheda

This coming Sunday, Feb. 2 is one of the goofiest, weirdest and insane holidays (?) of all time. And you know you’ll mention it sometime this coming Sunday. “Punxsutawney Phil” is this ground-hog’s or woodchuck’s name and I guess he, (or she), lives in a beautiful, well furnished burrow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Anyone remember Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day?” Anyway, legend has it that early in the morning of Feb. 2, Phil will wake up, yawn, stretch, have a cup of coffee, or whatever these critters do, and eventually emerge from his home to come out to “do his thing.” Not that my friends, but rather to let our Meteorologists the country over what the weather will be for the next six weeks. Yep, all the fancy meteorological evidence we now have in our “super-educated” world will hinge entirely on Punxsutawney Phil and his blasted shadow. If he sees it, there is (without a doubt), six more weeks of winter and if he does not see his shadow, Spring is eminent. Or is it the other way around? I can never get it straight.

Holy smokes, Batman, how meteorologically sound and accurate is this? But throughout our highly educated, (ok, maybe not so much), weather prognosticators and yes, even our local weather people go “ga-ga” over this day. Hard to believe but it is what it is. And yes, even we will be watching and sharing our thoughts on whether or not Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow or not and then trying to figure our which is which. If he sees his shadow, is that the six weeks of winter or is it the other way around. Ha ha, bet you’re trying to figure that out right now.

But here’s the “kicker,” according to some crazy poll out there, about 40% of us actually believe this groundhog or woodchuck or whatever he is and whether he saw his shadow or not. 40%! So here’s the deal! Don’t say a word to anyone but if you happen to have ten friends……yepper, four of them actually believe Punxsutawney Phil. Unless of course one of those ten is YOU! Come on, is it you? Are you a believer? Do you trust Phil more than “Schnack?” But there’s more to the story of this famous ground-hedge-woodchuck animal than meets the eye. He has quite a history!!

His complete full name is “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of all Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, Weather Prophet Extraordinaire.” However most of his furry friends simply call him Phil. You can also. Phil tells us that the reason February 2 is so special is that it’s the midpoint of winter or to be more exact, the mid-point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Or as I understand it… the half-way point between spring and winter. Phil is immortal, living on and on, just like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the Easter Bunny AND he has been married for many, many years to his lovely wife, Phyllis. He and Phyllis have several children, Peter, Piper, Patty, Petunia and Penelope. And, as Paul Harvey would say, “And that’s the rest of the story.” Write or call me at jsheda@indytel.com or 319.327.4640.