Photo: Shenandoah National Park, Wikimedia Commons
Here where I grew up in Kentucky, groundhogs weren’t the most loved animal. They burrowed under barns and sheds and made worrisome holes in and around the fields that could cause damage to a workhorse or a farmer if he wasn’t paying attention. And they ate corn and other crops. Farmers and farmers’ sons used them for target practice. They were almost as plentiful as rabbits. But nobody hunted them for food they way some did rabbits then and maybe still now although I haven’t seen hunters out with beagle hounds hunting for many years.
I’ve heard some say they have eaten or heard of their family eating groundhogs. Those who had didn’t seem to think it was a delicacy. They look as though they would have a nice fur some might be interested in, but I’ve never heard of anybody selling groundhog skins like other animal fur. But perhaps I just didn’t know about it because my father never went hunting. He did like to shoot and often target practiced. I don’t remember, but he might have done some target practicing on groundhogs. He was a farmer and as I said, groundhogs weren’t loved by farmers.
But today is Groundhog Day. Sort of an odd tradition when you think about it. There are all kinds of weather predicting old tales such as if it thunders in February it will frost in May. Or if it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain seven Sundays in a row. An older gentleman told me that years ago on a rainy Easter Sunday. And he was right about it raining for seven Sundays straight. So I always hope for a sunny Easter day. But why would anyone ever think a groundhog seeing his shadow would mean six more weeks of winter and if he didn’t see his shadow, spring would come early?
In this day and age when a person wonders about something, all they have to do is type a question or a bit of information into Google and presto, you have your answer. That’s what I did and I got this answer that I had never known about Groundhog Day. It started out as a religious celebration. The information is from a Newsweek article by Janice Williams.
Groundhog Day stems from an ancient European Christian celebration known as Candlemas Day initially observed at the midpoint between the winter and spring equinoxes. Religious leaders blessed candles used during the winter, then passed them out to the townspeople each year on Feb. 2. The thought at the time was that if the weather was sunny and clear when the candles were distributed, winter would continue on long and rough. But if the weather was cloudy and gray, spring was on the way.
Eventually, the Germans adapted the tradition by including a hedgehog. If the day was sunny and the hedgehog saw his shadow, more winter weather was expected. But if the hedgehog didn’t see its shadow, spring was near. When Germans began settling in Pennsylvania in the 1800s, they brought the tradition with them. However, they traded the hedgehog for the groundhog that was common in the area. Of course now they have a major event when they wake up Punxsutawney Phil to see if he can see his shadow.
If any groundhogs stuck their heads out of their burrows today around here, they definitely saw their shadow. It was a beautiful Sunday with nothing but blue skies and very pleasant Groundhog Day temperatures. I had to shed my jacket when the dogs and I went for a walk. Frankie had a very exciting walk. Chased deer. Got in the pond. Ran around crazy in the hayfield. Went down a steep hill to get in a creek. Ran back up the cliff path to go find other things to chase. I turn around and a turkey is running as fast as it can with a big black dog not much more than a dog length behind. After another dip in a creek who knows where, he found his way back to Marley and me. I was very glad he didn’t have a turkey. And that he had washed off the pond water in the clear creeks.
I watched parts of the Superbowl. Saw some of the commercials but not all of them. One I saw that made me smile was the one advertising Jeep where Bill Murray is carrying around a groundhog with an amusing take off his movie Groundhog Day. Did you have a favorite?
And the Winners Are:
I did draw for my four winners for my January Newsletter Giveaway. Thanks to all of you who threw your names in my drawing hat. I do enjoy hearing from my readers and being able to share prizes with them now and again. My two first place winners were Karen J and Linda K. My two second place or maybe third place winners were Stephanie H. and Chris R. I sent all of them an e-mail. I’ll do another giveaway here on my blog soon. Maybe a caption game.
As always, thanks for reading.
Comments 8
Hi Ann, Thanks for the history of Groundhogs day. Not sure how Punxsutawney Phil really got started and I guess I should Google that. It was cloudy with some snow in PA yesterday and so he predicted an early spring. There is now some controversy with PETA over the groundhog and we had heard they may have to stop keeping him and there are some rumors of the people there changing it to an animatronic groundhog or something. That would be even stranger than relying on the poor groundhogs prediction. Today we have bright and sunny weather and are going up into the 50’s in my central PA area, so maybe he is right about an early spring…but….there is snow and ice called for later this week, so maybe not! 😉
Author
The Newsweek article that I linked to in my post has more about Punxsutawney Phil, Hope, if you want to read more. I saw a picture of him in the paper today and there were hundreds and maybe more than that there watching when they pulled him out of his burrow. Amazing. I can’t imagine going to actually watch that. But maybe they were all having fun. Early spring works for me, but we really haven’t had much winter yet. The weatherman called it perpetual March. We usually pay for warm weather in January and February by cold weather later on.
Thanks for the interesting history about Groundhog Day as I didn’t know the history behind Groundhog Day was rooted in faith, Ann! My favorite Super Bowl commercial was the Doritos dancing Cowboys one, where two Cowboys had a dance off, to win a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. 😉 I look forward to your next Caption game,Ann! 💜Isaiah 62💜
Author
Emily, I’ve had several on Facebook say that was their favorite Superbowl commercial. I didn’t see it. I’ll have to Google it and watch it that way. I liked the Groundhog Day was for Jeep. I’ll figure out some kind of game for us to play on here soon.
Ann, I so love your letters! And this one about the groundhogs had me smiling! My father was a farmer too. But he loved to hunt when he had time. He didn’t need to use dogs to find groundhogs. He’d sit on the front porch, and shoot them in the field across the road.
After he cleaned them, mom would wash them thoroughly, then she’d refrigerate them and let the parts cool completely. We all loved them. I don’t think we even thought about it being a delicacy, because they didn’t last that long. Mom always breaded them and fried them in lard.
At our house, we loved wild game. So ground hog, rabbit, Squirrel, deer, and frog legs were enjoyed by all! And while dad was an exceptionally good hunter, mom had a magic touch with cooking what he brought in.
Author
That’s interesting, Bessie. Your mother must have been a good cook. Since Dad didn’t like wild game my mother never cooked it. After I married, my husband liked to hunt and I did have to cook rabbit and squirrel sometimes, but I wasn’t an expert at it. I never liked cooking frog legs. I was glad when he didn’t go frog gigging any more.
I’m so glad you enjoy my posts, Bessie. I appreciate you letting me know that. I’m glad you chimed in with your memories.
Very interesting information about Groundhog Day. I had read about the blessings of candles but the rest of your history lessons was new learning! Thank you! My dog and I went in the little bit of woods nearby just for her sniffing inhalation exercises. She was quite happy and then got to stay with me while I puttered in the garden. How about the Chiefs pulling out of the hole! I stopped watching after the las SF interception thinking that’s it while
I was working on a quilt. 2:30 AM and I couldn’t sleep…So I check the score on YouTube!!! Holy moly! What a pass and my grandson and his father are happy! And I’m happy for them! Best Sunday wishes. I went to Evensong so I ws also very happy! I love choral singing!
Karen in NC
Author
I saw the first half and then skipped the third quarter and came back for the last of the game. So I saw the catchup times for the Chiefs. It was fun to watch. And don’t dogs love to sniff. Everything! I sometimes wonder what they think while the sniff. Do they imagine some sort of animal or is it just the smell? Glad you had a good service at church. Our church doesn’t have night services. Many churches around here don’t anymore.