Six more weeks of winter.

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Unk's Wild Wild West : One Thread

Friday February 2 8:31 AM ET

Punxsutawney Phil Predicts Six More Weeks of Winter

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (Reuters) - The world renowned weather-prognosticating groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Friday, a sign that winter will last another six weeks in North America according to a time-honored custom known as Groundhog Day.

A crowd of about 12,000 danced to polka and rock music in the freezing predawn cold of rural western Pennsylvania, while awaiting the 115th annual spring forecast to be made by a woodchuck from Gobbler's Knob near the town of Punxsutawney.

Groundhog Day organizers said this year marked the 101st time the ceremonial rodent has seen his shadow. The groundhogs have been right about 60 percent of the time.

``Phil has had an unusually thick coat this winter,'' noted Bill Deeley, a local funeral home director who dons a top hat and tuxedo to haul Phil from beneath a maple tree stump shortly before 7:30 EST each Feb. 2.

After being pulled from his burrow, the rodent ``speaks'' to a ''translator'' from Punxsutawney's Groundhog Day Club who then conveys the prediction to the audience. This year's message expressed an interest in U.S. presidential politics as well as the weather.

``I'm very glad I don't count the chad. But as a committee of one, I rely only on the sun. You know what the meaning of is, is. Now I see my shadow. Gee whiz, six more weeks of winter there is,'' Phil's scrolled statement read.

According to a custom brought to the New World by German immigrants, winter will continue for another month and a half if the groundhog sees his shadow during the old winter festival known as Candlemas Day. No shadow means an early spring.

The Germans originally used hedgehogs as their seasonal barometers.

Groundhog Day has been observed since 1887 at Gobbler's Knob near Punxsutawney, a town about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh that promotes itself ``the Weather Capital of the World.''

Business leaders inaugurated the annual event as a way to publicize their isolated town of 6,800 people, which sponsors a full day of parades, ice-carving competitions, sleigh rides, and food and music festivals.

In recent years, however, the custom has become a world phenomenon attracting media coverage from as far away as Europe and Asia, thanks mainly to the popularity of the 1993 Hollywood movie ``Groundhog Day,'' starring Bill Murray.

Phil, a woodchuck who has been feted by luminaries from former President Ronald Reagan to television talk show host Oprah Winfrey, weighs 15 pounds and measures about 22 inches in length.

Organizers say he owes his prognosticating powers to an alchemy of victuals that are alien to the average rodent's diet. ''He's naturally a vegetarian. But he loves ice cream and strawberry sundaes,'' Deeley explained.

-- (punxsutawney phil@saw my.shadow), February 02, 2001

Answers

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrumble!!!

dammit, someone should have stuffed their hand over the damn groundhog hole. :-(

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), February 02, 2001.


What about Buckeye Chuck? I haven't heard any news from Marion, yet.

-- kb (kb8um8@yahoo.com), February 02, 2001.

I heard that out of all the groundhogs the verdict came in at 50-50.

Some are asking for a recount.

-- Buddy (buddydc@go.com), February 02, 2001.


A crowd of about 12,000 danced to polka and rock music in the freezing predawn cold of rural western Pennsylvania, while awaiting the 115th annual spring forecast to be made by a woodchuck from Gobbler's Knob near the town of Punxsutawney

What a party that MUST have been!!! hey, I wasnt invited. If I were, I'd of put my hand over the damn hole, never let the sob out.

I can see the headlines now "Furious Consumer Refuses to Allow G-Hog its day". hee hee.

Ground chuck, eh? Hmmmmmmm. Cant say I've ever heard of buckeye chuck. But I do have a brother named chuck :-)

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), February 02, 2001.


Which one's the groundhog?

(Ours -- at least I heard we had one, or an unreasonable facsimile, anyway -- saw his shadow. There was about a 99.9999~% chance he WAS going to see his shadow.)

(The temp is supposed to be up around 70 next week. Oh, the pain.....the pain.....)

-- sorry 'sumer..... (PatriciaS@lasvegas.com), February 02, 2001.



Sumer:

We have our own private groundhog. His den is just below the garden. It is a good location; near his summer food source. He didn't come out today. It was sunny in the morning, but minus 10. It didn't get above zero until noon. By then it was cloudy; the next storm is moving in. Looks like he won't be coming out for a while. He doesn't like the snow on the ground.

Cheers,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), February 02, 2001.


...Then put your little hand in mine, There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb

Babe [doot do doot do doot do doot do]

I got you Babe...

-- CD (costavike@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001.


...Then put your little hand in mine, There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb

Babe [doot do doot do doot do doot do]

I got you Babe....

-- CD (costavike@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001.


...Then put your little hand in mine, There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb

Babe [doot do doot do doot do doot do]

I got you Babe.....

-- CD (costavike@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001.


Sorry... Ever since that corny Bill Murray movie was on tv, each February 2nd my keyboard mysteriously starts repeatedly typing the lyrics to that mind-numbing Sonny and Cher song. Please don't hold it against me as I have no control over this. I'm sure it will stop by tomorrow if tomorrow ever gets here.

-- CD (costavike@hotmail.com), February 02, 2001.


Great. Now I not only have that stupid song in my head, but I have to explain to my fellow Denizens of Cubicle World why I've been LOL......

-- I would suggest drinking heavily..... (PatriciaS@lasvegas.com), February 02, 2001.


sumer, Buckeye Chuck **did not** see his shadow!

-- kb (kb8um8@yahoo.com), February 02, 2001.

Hmmm, whenever I think of that movie I get "The Pennsylvania Polka" running in my brain. One of my favorite flicks, and Murray's best IMHO.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), February 02, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ