Chasing Shadows, Part Deja Vu
February 2, 2012 [alarm clock clicking to 6:00 AM]
[Sonny & Cher caterwauling to I Got You, Babe]
Ok, Campers, rise and shine! 'Cuz it's Groundhog Day!
Or, as Brenda here knows it:
;)
Today is the day that we celebrate the.. day...by having this cheeky little fella:
;)
;)
"Did I do that?"
...drive around town with Bill Murray looking for a weather forecaster who has no shadow. Which I think makes the weather forecaster a vampire.
Ah, American holidays*.
Today is also the day when we find out if winter will end soon or not.
Hm...
[clickety click click click]
;)
Yeah. Good luck with that, every-state-but-Florida.
So, unless shadowless weather forecasters are run over by rodent and celebrity driven automobiles, I'd say most of you are due to see a lot more of this:
;)
"Squashed octopodes?"
Er, no. I mean this:
;)
"Blue crabs?"
No, no, no!
THIS:
;)
[crickets chirping]
Oh, never mind.
Happy Grounn Dhog Day, y'all.
;)
Thanks to Brenda M., M.Z., Melissa B., Saundra, Karen C., Jamie, & Kevin H., who would like to remind you to never drive angry. Especially with a quadruped.
See you tomorrow, campers!
*Actually, I hear Canadians celebrate Groundhog Day, too. Except their vampire weather forecasters use beavers** to raise the stakes. [insert beaver joke here] [insert 'BWAHAHAHA!' here] [insert apology for beaver joke here]
**May or may not be entirely untrue.
Reader Comments (63)
Nope, we Canadians use groundhogs too, though I frankly don't understand why we need a rodent to tell us how long winter lasts here. It turns out they're correct only 37% of the time.
Thank you for a much-needed laugh today! In fact, this week has been so bad I think it's time for a trip through the archives, including the comments.
[join the [insert comment] here epcot]
Well, its snowing here today so it'll be an early spring. hooray!
Twenty-one hundred!
What a potential swath of
cyan crustaceans!
~~~
Words of the Day my students had to learn this week: kinin, kinkajou, knave, and today's: kingbolt
Actually we good ol' Canucks use ground squirrels just like you Yanks. Our beavers are too busy being adorrable and fluffly, and chomping down on wood. ;)
Just so you know, since Canada is the second largest country in the world, we have 3 groundhoggish weather prognosticators. There is Wiarton Willy in Ontario, Schubeacadie Sam out east in the maritimes, and Balzac Billy out west. They all say "short winter" this year, which is a safe bet. We have above freezing temps and no snow right now in Southern Ontario. I like the fact that your map showed no snow north of the border.
So, they can't spell Giants or Patriots, but Punxatawney they get right. Go figure.
And do we really need snow cakes? Who celebrates weather? Besides Sam Champion, I mean.
You could really mess with our heads by reposting this in its entirety tomorrow.
I don't need furry critters OR lousy cakes to tell me that it's already freakin' SUMMER here. We kinda skipped over winter.
Whoa. Those are some -erm- interesting cakes! I will, however, have to give credit where credit is due: at least Wreckorator #3 spelled "Punxutawney" correctly... amazing. Even we native Pennsylvanians sometimes have to double check that one!
As for the (?) snow flakes, I can sort of see where they were going with those, all but the last one. What on earth evil imp sat on a shoulder and urged, "C'mon, you KNOW the teddy bear pan will work as a snowflake.... Six protrusions, a sort of round area in the middle; obviously, it's meant to be a snowflake! Anyone can see that."
And "Grounn Dhog Day?" If someone hadn't misspelled "Ground", there would have been space for that wandering "D", yes? Or are dhogs a type of wild canine found in the Far East? No, that's "dhow", and a dhow is a boat. Who celebrates ground boat day???
I just returned from Ecuador, where the children acknowledge, if not celebrate, groundhog day.
Not only did P. Phil predict 6 more weeks of winter, so did Malverne Mel. Which is weird, because it was 60 degrees yesterday, and supposed to be in the 50s today. Pretty sure we're not having winter this year. I'm thinking the pudgy rodents have superPACs funded by the snowblower, snow shovel, de-icer, and sled industries.
I don't get it at ALL when the decorations are so nice and the lettering is just abominable.
@Sharyn, I seriously need a LIKE button for your comment this morning! (Come to think of it, I usually want a LIKE button for your comments - so clever)
Where I live, we usually have at least six more weeks of winter after Groundhog's Day. We've been virtually unscathed so far this winter - does this mean we'll get a dumping of snow in March? Entirely possible...
Apparenly Groundhog Day started in Ontario. Huh. Who knew?
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/931100
Ground Hogs Day, brought to you by Jimmy Dean sausage!
(Like wreckerators need something else to look like poo.)
The unknown cake is clearly a Polar Bear Princess. or a dreidel.
@staying anon. Actually, they were close, but not completely right on Punxsutawney...they forgot the S. But still, that's impressive, since most of them can't spell bowel, I mean, bowl. Or happy. Or birthday. Or congratulations. Or anything else.
Meanwhile, it's 75 here in St. Augustine, FL and I wouldn't mind 6 more weeks of this "winter" weather. Thanks, Phil.
HEY! No fair scaring us with a weather forecast from a year ago! I was all, "A foot of snow?! But they said yesterday it was supposed to be 60 degrees all week!"
It is the Midwest though, so it could change hourly! :-)
I don't mean to cry foul, but isn't that forecast from the freak october snowstorm in 2011?
Maritimer here, and just for the record, It's 'Shubenacadie Sam'. Just in case you ever want to put it on a cake without getting written up on the blog. :)
Poor Sam didn't see his shadow this morning, because it's dark and grim and snowing again. Shoulda left the poor guy to hibernate a couple months longer.
Last year, the rats predicted an early spring. We ended up with seven months of winter capped by a snowstorm in June. Happy Groud Hogs Day indeed.
Also, not having a shadow isn't a symptom of vampirism; it just means you need to eat more cake.
Oh dear. The blue crabs one just looks like boobs decked out in splunchy seasonal winter tassels to me.
And in case you were wondering, yes, Shubenacadie is pronounced just like it's spelled.
So like Karyn's suggestion.
The best part about this year's winter is that it hardly arrived, so of course spring will arrive early! We haven't had much in the way of squashed octopi this year either. I hear that makes for a nice spring.
Anna, you beat me to it! I was going to say I has been Spring in FL since well I guess we missed winter all together. (Except that cold weekend we came to St. Augustine in late October when it was cold to us FL people!)
Did anyone else notice that the label on cake #2 says "Groundhog Plaza"? What, all the media attention went to his head and now the hole isn't good enough for him anymore? Still trying to figure out what that has to with a cake, though...
Love the weather report. One year ago today we were up to our [insert body part here] in ice and snow that seriously derailed our celebration of the Super Bowl here in the frozen wilds of ... Dallas! Have a great Ground Hog Day everyone, and be sure to eat some SAUSAGE!
Actually the third cake DIDN'T spell Punxsutawney right! Close at least. It's my hometown and that was one thing we actually learned how to spell in elementary school.
Jenn, You missed a pun opportunity when you said the vampire weather forcasters use beavers to raise the stakes.
A vampire/stakes joke would have fit perfectly.
I have to give credit to the 3rd baker for making such a valiant effort as spelling "Punxsutawney". So close, yet so far. And Jen, thank you for using my favorite plural for octopus - something about the word octopodes just makes me grin.
We celebrate ground hog day in Belgium too! Only, we don't call it ground hog day and it's got nothing to do with ground hogs. The second of february is "Maria Lichtmis", roughly translated to Light Mass of Mary (you know... Jesus' mother) and you get to have pancakes for supper! Time for me to make the batter and start baking my pancakes :D
Grounn Dhog Day, which always predicts 6 more months of winter, is what they're celebrating in Tibet today. You already knew that, right?
In Québec, our groundhog is named Freddy and lives in Gaspésie. And this morning, it predicted 6 more weeks of snow. Which brings us to mid March. Now considering we sometimes have snow until May (but usually until mid April), what are the chances that we will EVER get an early spring, I ask you?
The first time I ever did a spit-take was because of this beaver joke:
http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=13145
You're welcome.
I could swear I've seen this post before.
@Ada, 37% accuracy is better than NWS (or whatever they call themselves this week) usually manages.
#1 Just think -- if they had managed to get the first word right, it would still be wrong.
If you like ground hogs, never watch them being made.
Six more weeks of winter? It was 80 degrees in Austin yesterday. Maybe we're going to have six weeks of really late winter?
You know what it means when the decorations are fine but the handwriting sucks? It means that cake was made in advance and decorated by the one poor sap in the bakery who has half a clue, leaving the top blank for later customization.
Customization = A Wreckerator writing something illegible and incomprehensible, preferably in a color that clashes with the rest of the cake, probably right over the top of the existing decorations.
Then the half-a-clue guy quits in despair, leaving the Wreckerators in charge, in a panic, and in possession of a small truckload of flotsam...
I think the fourth cake looks like the Christmas Star that attacked London, just a little on the thick side.
Oops.... Told you even natives have to double check Phil's hometown... *sigh*
"You want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life."
Groad Hog? Maybe while they were piping that, their mind wondered and thought of road kill?
lol Sandy C.! We all could be watching, and when the movie starts over again it'll be like deja-vu!
wv: chroat: Last year I wanted to strangle that little rodent's chroat for predicting 6 more weeks of winter. All is forgiven this year.
Thank God that weather map is from last year!
Up here in the Northeast there has been less than a foot of snow, total, since November 1st, and above-normal average temperatures throughout. If the rodent-meteorologist-of-your-choice predicted six more weeks of this, fine with me!
Ahem: "every other state but Florida" except the west coast, specifically Oregon, which is officially the Beaver State, where we've barely had any winter this year. It's gonna be a long dry fire season.
the blue crab cake looks more like blue tracks of land. must be celebrating Avatar.
In Phoenix they have a snake called, Agua Fria Freddy. It takes a brave man to go see if a rattlesnake sees his shadow.
But, I WANNA see more frozen, faceless teddy bears!
I just can't believe how close they came to spelling Punxsutawney correctly! Wow.
Yes! Thank you! Someone finally agrees with me about Sonny & Cher caterwauling that song. It drives me crazy because every time you hear it you get it stuck in your head and it is so annoying.
Someone in PA or Ontario needs to explain the whole shadow/ six weeks of winter thing. I don't understand. If he sees his shadow the sun must be shining. That would seem to indicate good weather. Why does it mean six more weeks of winter? If he doesn't see his shadow it must be overcast and maybe a storm is on its way. And then the six weeks...isn't the spring equinox coming mid-to-end- March? So in about six weeks winter is over anyway.
I also need someone from Belgium to invite me to their pancake supper while they explain how pancakes relate to Mary. That sounds like a delicious celebration, but again I need background info. Anyone want to start a blog on celebrations around the world? Every day has a reason to celebrate!
To MarnieB:
I'm neither from PA or Ontario, but I can explain the whole 6 weeks more thing. The idea is that if the groundhog comes out of his burrow and then immediately goes back in to hibernate for longer, then winter must not be over. The myth is that the groundhog would see his shadow, get scared, and then go back to hibernate. If he didn't see his shadow, he wouldn't be scared, he wouldn't go back to hibernate, and so spring would be coming. (Which basically implies that groundhog hibernation somehow *caused* winter to happen). Yes, we Americans have some traditions that are quite mad.
Wikipedia actually has a pretty good entry on how this tradition may have come about.
Hope that helps!
Only because I lifted the picture of the last cake to use in a power point I made for my students last year about goal-setting and planning ahead do I know that the last cake is a repeat wreck. But I guess that goes with the whole Groundhog Day theme. Still, love your blog, Jen and your wicked sense of humor.
Did you use a different picture host? I can't see it.