I feel compelled to lift my voice in defense of that poor, misunderstood groundhog, old Punxsutawney Phil. He gets all the blame for predicting six more weeks of winter which doesn't sit well with most of us here in the northern hemisphere, and especially if you live in the northeast where April snowstorms are not unusual ... and that's exactly my point.
It's true that we can learn a great deal from watching our animal and insect friends in nature as the Native Americans did for centuries before we showed up here, and still do. The wooly caterpillar is supposed to be able to tell us how harsh a winter we're going to have. The geese, and other birds, flying south indicate the end of autumn and the beginning of colder weather ... although you couldn't tell it by the flock of geese who live on a nearby farm, complete with shelter, food, and all the comforts of home. They fly over every morning, weather permitting, and fly back at supper time. No fools are they. Why exhaust yourself flying thousands of miles when you have it good right here?
Anyway, of all the animals on the planet that people use to gauge the seasons, poor Phil gets the worst of it. When February 2 rolls around, he has to bear the burden of bringing the bad news that we'll have six more weeks of winter. I'm here to tell you why that's not fair.
Phil is not a meteorologist! He's a large rodent! Honestly, he has no more power to predict the seasons than my squirrel neighbors. He has to hunker down and wait it out just like the rest of us. I'm sure he'd rather stay nice and warm in his den than be manhandled every year and dragged out to take the blame for what is the normal passing of the seasons in this part of the world. I know I would. We humans are always looking for a scapegoat or, in this case, scape-ground hog, to blame someone for things out of our control. Seriously, we should be more like the bears. They have enough sense to stock up and sleep it out until spring.
So my advice to you all is this: Get over yourselves! Take life as it comes, enjoy each day, and be glad you are alive. Leave Phil and his mates to live their own lives in peace. How'd you like to be dragged out of your home in winter at the crack of dawn? Case closed.
And so it is.
P.S. Phil wanted you to know that he would like one of those nifty top hats for himself.
