Happy Groundhogs Day!

Well, I guess old Punxy Phil said we're in for six more weeks of winter. That's about twice as much as we've had so far, isn't it?

At any rate, I was very happy to learn the true origin and history of groundhogs day, shown in the video below.





I don't remember anything about groundhogs and/or easter bunnies in Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition, but perhaps that is part of what has been revised for the new edition?

The most urgent groundhogs day related event that should be incorporated into our celebrations, however, is the Fersommling (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fersommling):


A Fersommling (plural, Fersommlinge) (also spelled Versammling or Fersammling) is a Pennsylvania Dutch social event in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment. Another tradition is the singing of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", in Pennsylvania German, as translated by John Birmelin.

It turns out groundhogs day is one of the best holidays ever! Maybe what we've been calling "global warming" or "climate change" is really a returning of the groundhogs' magic so that they can give us an early spring more often than once every nine years? Just another theory, I guess...