Groundhog Day – Hello Phil
Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most pampered rodent, will soon be pulled from his lair to determine if we will have a speedy onset of spring or more grey winter. Not so fast I say. This vermin has seen his shadow on 108 occasions (including 2023) and failed to see a shadow just 18 times. I smell a rat…
Who is this Punxsutawney Phil anyway and why should anyone outside of Punxsutawney care? First off, who names a rodent Phil?
Phil lives in a climate controlled room in the town’s library. Once a year – you guessed it, Groundhog Day – Phil is temporarily relocated to a heated burrow under a faux tree stump on Gobbler’s Knob. At 7:25 he is presented to the crowd and gives his handlers the bad news.
Simply put, Phil can’t be trusted. He has no stake in the game he presides over. Living in a cushy hut in the local library, he is immune to the elements. What does he care? Apparently he cares little about accuracy and it is his overwhelming tendency to damn us all to an extended cold snap. Phil’s accuracy rate is somewhere around 33%, which is reasonably better than your local tv weather person and certainly better than Al Roker. Punxsutawney residents will tell you that Phil is always right but they will also tell you that Phil is over 100 years old. For the record, groundhogs live for about six years in the wild. Somewhere in Punxsutawney there is a backyard with scores of groundhog-shaped patches of dead grass. Let’s dig another hole…
If you are feeling spiteful — here is a lovely recipe for Groundhog Stew.