February 02 - 2024 - A Groundhog Day - Coming Very Soon.
During every first week of February - every winter - a fat, big groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil - comes out of the box/cage - to be held up - preferably in the sun (if it's a sunny day) - to "see his shadow or not to see his shadow". This yearly ceremony takes place in a small Pennsylvania town - Punxsutawney. The aforementioned groundhog is handled by an elderly gentleman clad in a vintage outfit - complete with a tall top hat. According to the tradition - if the groundhog sees his shadow - (on a sunny day) - that is - there will be less than six weeks of winter - still to come. If - however - the big fatty does not see his shadow (presumably on a cloudy day) - there will be more than six weeks of winter - to get through.
Some years - the groundhogs would bite their handlers - then they would run away like a proverbial "Texan out of hell" - but most years - no such drama happens - which the news media would have to "endure". This year - though - PETA - the organization which advocates for animals - suggests again - to use a toy in place of a real groundhog or use a big coin since - presumably - the accuracy of the yearly predictions - yields the same mathematical odds/probabilities - as tossing of the coin.
Maybe they could start using the small prairie dogs which are plentiful in Arizona and other Western states. Those little guys are smaller than groundhogs - but fat like the groundhogs - and waddle as the walk just like their "cousins"- groundhogs - if that's a prerequisite. Moreover - they "travel" in groups - thus they have a leader; in addition - they "sport" a high-pitched - apoplectic sounding - bark - which may or may not be working in their favor.
Copyright@L. Hadley and Associates 2024
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