When I was just a wee thing, I had come across an injured baby groundhog while playing outside. With all my best intention set forth, I made every attempt to save the little guy. I believe the baby sitter in charge of us for the day was fired on the spot when my mother came home to find me toting around a wild animal, and after enduring a long lecture on the dangers of picking up wild animals (including the babies) we buried Morgan in the backyard with all the other beloved creatures in my life who had passed away.
That following winter in first grade I heard someone announce that it was Groundhog Day. For a fleeting moment I thought I might actually get some award for my valiant efforts earlier that year with the little guy, but as my first grade teacher began to talk about what happens on Groundhog Day I realized that I was lucky to have not run into the real groundhog on my travels. My young mind could only imagine how people would have reacted had I failed to save the famous Punxsutawney Phil.
February 2nd, the groundhog is supposed to awaken, peek out of his hole for a brief moment, and look about for his shadow. The remaining length of winter is determined by whether or not he sees his shadow. As an avid despiser of winter myself, I was quite excited to know whether Punxsutawney would be able to tell me that winter was nearly over and that those precious days of sunshine and bare feet were only a few tiny weeks away. However, when you are six, three weeks is still an eternity.
I became utterly confused when everyone was so happy that Punxsutawney didn’t see his shadow that day. In my childhood logic that has actually remained with me all the way through to adulthood, a shadow means sunlight. Sunlight means warmth. Warmth means springtime. Right?
Perhaps I was right, but nobody else seemed to see it my way and I would struggle every groundhog day to remember whether I wanted the little guy to see his shadow or to not see his shadow. Despite my sunlight theory, not seeing his shadow meant that spring was quite near but seeing his shadow meant that winter would hang around for six more long weeks of miserable drudgery.
This tradition dates back to historical European traditions, although it’s not completely clear when the tradition started. From a time when nature dictated the life and actions of mankind, the groundhog was relied upon to give the people hope of relief from living in the horrific elements.
This tradition was brought to the New World and defined as Groundhog Day when Pennsylvania’s settlers realized the tremendous abundance of groundhogs and observed their capacity for “intelligent decision making.” Prior to this, almost any animal was used for the prediction of the end of winter. And so Punxsutawney was born, the official groundhog shadow seeker of February 2nd.
New England farmers knew that regardless of the status of the groundhog’s shadow, winter was still in full grip and February 2nd was considered the halfway mark for hay rations. If less than half the winter hay supply remained on February 2nd, the farmers knew that they would have to tighten up the feeding rations to make it last all the way through the winter.
Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil have had increasing attention and growing fame since those early days of a quick peek from his hole. In recent history, tens of thousands of people, swarming like stir crazy, cabin fever, desperate for the light of day goons now swarm the revealing of Punxsutawney Phil and his winter predictions. He even has his own fan club.
Punxsutawney Phil has developed (at least in his mind) a small amount of political clout. During Prohibition Punxsutawney claimed that he would prohibit spring for sixty long weeks unless he could have a drink. He has had semi private meeting with President Reagan and Dick Thornburg, has graced the stage of the Oprah Winfrey Show, and in 1981 he protested hostage taking by wearing w yellow ribbon.
With his recent increase in popularity, there really is not telling just how much more is in store for Punxsutawney Phil. Whether you purchase a stuffed version of him or you attend his annual peeking out party, his mission remains the same as it has always been, we are simply responding to him with more vigor.