It's February Second and that means Punxsutawney Phil, the weather predicting ground hog gets to come on out and tell us what the future holds for weather. If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow he will run and hide from the bad weather to come for six more weeks, on the other hand if he sees no shadow then he will stay outside and bask in the warming earth for spring will soon be arriving.

I am hoping Punxsutawney Phil does not see his shadow because I love the springtime and frankly, I have had enough snow already. I dislike the winter, with all the shoveling and cold freezing weather, I pray for springtime when the earth seems new and very much lively once more.

If Punxsutawney Phil does see his shadow rumor has it that old man winter with all the cold will hang around for at least another six weeks or so. Six more long weeks of winter, with temperatures below freezing, snow and way too much ice for comfort oh Punxsutawney Phil please do not see that shadow.

Having lived in Pennsylvania since I was a child, I have always heard of Punxsutawney Phil and I always disliked when he predicted another six weeks of bone chilling temperatures. This is a groundhog that Pennsylvania students get almost a first hand knowledge about, in elementary school we students made little groundhogs out of construction paper. We learned the folklore and all about the traditions surrounding on famous ground hog named Punxsutawney Phil.

Pennsylvanians have been celebrating Ground Hog Day since 1886, so this year, 2008 marks the 121 year that Punxsutawney Phil has been making his famous prediction. The fine folks over at the official Groundhog.org web site report that only one groundhog has been making all those predictions.

When Punxsutawney Phil began seeing making his weather predictions back in 1886, he made them from the woods to a small group of people. However, in recent years as he has gained popularity he has very much enjoyed the limelight and made his predictions in from of thousands of curious visitors.

Punxsutawney Phil has become a celebrity in his own right and has been featured in countless newspapers around the world as well as appeared in many movies. He has also brought all those visitors to his beloved home of Gobblers Knob in down town Punxsutawney Pennsylvania. He wore a yellow ribbon for the Iran hostages, he met President Reagan at the white house, and he has even met some governors.

The folks on Gobblers Knob say that Punxsutawney Phil is always accurate, and you can live by his predictions as the gospel truth.

http://www.groundhog.org

Learn more about this author, Amy Browne.
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