Tuesday morning in Punxsutawney, the fine folks in Gobbler's Knob pulled Phil from his home and watched to see what he'd do.
If you don't know what happened, we're about to tell you the results of this morning's Groundhog Day festivities. If you don't want the news to be spoiled, watch the video. If you're impatient (and who isn't these days), you can skip ahead to the 7:50 mark of the video.
The 2021 Groundhog Day celebration was a bit different than past years as globally, we're still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the organizers of the Groundhog Day festivities presented this year's traditional gathering "virtually." While the number of people watching may have been just as large as a "normal" year, they were watching online.
While not exactly a unique situation, this year, Groundhog Day fell in the midst of a massive snowstorm that covered some areas of NEPA with two+ feet of snow.
While I was hunkered down at WILK for 48+ hours, I wasn't exactly feeling the excitement of this year's Groundhog Day events. As I like to do, I attempted to make the best of the situation by being creative and writing a "fun" little poem about Groundhog Day.
To be fair, the poem started off innocently enough. Then my thoughts quickly turned dark, as the idea of a potential prediction for "six more weeks of winter" seemed like a meanspirited, cruel joke. No, I don't believe that the groundhog can predict the weather, but it's the principle of the thing.
No. I would never hurt Phil the Groundhog, or any groundhog. I love animals.
This poem was simply a well intentioned, but a somewhat dark take on Groundhog Day through the eyes of a guy (me) who has had enough of winter and apparently (because I even surprised myself)....apparently wants to "fictionally" take it out on the furry forecaster.
If you'd like to share the poem, here it is on Facebook:
For those wondering, yes, I updated the poem after Phil saw his shadow.
Yes, this morning at Gobbler's Knob, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter.