Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Groundhog Day

Today is February 2nd, the day they called "Groundhog Day". I never heard of this when I was still in the Philippines, and this is my 2nd "Groundhog Day"here in USA. This day reminds me of the couple of groundhog that lives under our shed (Michigan's house). It was my Dad-in-law who first spotted them on our vegetable garden. Then, as the days passed by, all of us in the house saw it and the other groundhog that he or she was with. We thought it was cute to see them trying to sneak some vegetables from the garden and run back to their hiding place which was under the shed. Weeks after that, they saw them again on the garden but wondering how they disappear without coming out from the garden, then my Dad-in-law realized that they were making a tunnel from underground of the shed going to the middle of the garden. What a smart idea for them to do that!
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Anyway, my husband explained to me this "Groundhog Day", and I find it unsatisfactory. So, I had decided to look at it on Wikipedia, (my favorite teacher). It says; Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2. It is held in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. Its origin started in southeastern and central Pennsylvannia by a Pennsylvanian German. They say that this bears to similarities to the Pagan festival and to medieval Catholic. This also involves weather prognostication. Modern customs of the holiday involve celebrations where early morning festivals are held to watch the groundhog emerging from its burrow.
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Well, people have a lot of different beliefs. There is only one thing I can say about this event, "It is cute!"

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