Groundhog Day
 

Our groundhog, where I live, did not see his shadow...wait, her shadow?

This 'feast' is actually, 'imbolc', the day that celebrates, the midway point between solstice and the equinox. It was a old gaelic feast, that became St. Brigid's day...somehow it became groundhog day. Altho, this day has been called, St. Bridies day, Candlemass, St. Blaise's day when throat blessing is done. Also, it celebrates, Ewe's giving birth to lambs.

I dunno, some people look for a reason to party.

Kind of an all purpose day.

its also fred flintstones birthday

Well THAT is reason enough to party....yabba dabba doooo!

I remember getting my throat blessed when I was a kid :winky:

Oh yes, me too, then the ashes are next.

I always felt that I missed out on all of the fun by being protestant... the nuns, genuflecting, etc...now I hear that you get your throat blessed...boy!

Lotta good it did me.

As someone who lives only about 70 miles from Phils house,, its a big deal around here,,, its a real party up there,,, actually they have about (4) (phils),, and his digs are pretty nice,,

throat blessing?

Phil seemed to not care what was going on, but his handlers all seemed to have been tipping the bottle a bit.:D

Fred Flintstones birthday huh, where do we send the cards???

6 more weeks on winter, 6 weeks until spring, whatever...can't get here soon enough. Time flies so quickly anymore, it will be spring next week.
:grouphug:

Yep, throat blessing....the feast of St. Blaise. Like I said, a lot of good it did me....sitting here now, pondering how to swallow.

I am so bored with being inside, I can't wait to see my flowers come up out of the ground...

Yeah, me too !! :confused:
The priest throws holy water down yer gullet? :eek:
What's up with this? ('Marilyn Chambers Day'? :cool::rolleyes:;))

No we power drank wine, Bob....

You went up to the front of the church and they had these unlit...yes unlit, important fact or they would have lit tresses on fire, anyway, these candles, two of them in a V and they say some Latin prayer and voila, you were supposed to have no throat issues....like choking on a fish bone or something.

You gotta love rituals. People need rituals. It beat sitting in class. Heck, I even volunteered to clean the church to get out of class....and I was allllwayyysss on honor roll.

301 Cobblestone Way, Bedrock

Bob, :hug:you missed sooo much not going to a parochial grade school....lol. Let's see, there was the minor concussion I got from the nun who clipped me a good one in the head in chuch....I guess I was talking.:confused:

Then the time some one stole my Brownie cap and I was told I would burn in hell because I tried to get it back.:eek:

The weekly confession....in second grade it was hard to come up with new sins every week. I got quite inventive.:o

So, perhaps now it the time to power drink that wine....

Ah yes....rituals.

And echoes...should I send Fred, a belated BDay card??

JoanB must be sick in bed today....:D

Mere I am with you on the flowers....I planned this fantastic veggie garden...doubled last years size. Nevermind I needed a tractor last year!

Nope, my mom was sick and needed me to take her to the doctor. Plus I'm packing to go to Tampa in the morning.

Groundhog Day: I read somewhere that it originated in Europe (which would favor the Pagan claim) but that the critter they observed was the hedgehog. Since hedgehogs are not indigenous to the Americas, they substituted groundhogs here. My opinion is that these are cute:

http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2008/04...PS_450x300.jpg

This is not such a good substitute:

http://bobbeckstead.com/blog/wp-cont...d-hog-day1.jpg

That groundhog looks how I feel.:p

(I did take care of a baby hedgehog when I was a young kid and visited relatives in Sweden....he was orphaned...and I dont think he made it, but my wonderful aunts didn't tell me that. They told me he went back to his mama.)

Hedgehogs look like porcupines. And they are cute...unless you find one in your dryer vent, I suppose. My cousin found a gila monster in hers....but she is in the desert southwest. Lucky her...she got the good genes and had the sense to leave the midwest.

Can you see those guys in Punxatuany (or how ever it is spelled) digging a porcupine out of a burrow?

My Grandparents were true Southwesterners and I remember my Grandad saying if you see a Gila monster, run the other way!

Sooooo......... what was the verdict?

Did the groundhog, throw a shadow or not? Will it be a long or a short winter?

We don't have a tradition like this in Australia, and I'm still learning. :)

Sooo....Koala, here's how it goes:

Groundhog sees shadow------------>Six more weeks of winter
Groundhog doesn't see shadow------>Six more weeks of winter

Thank you, but.... isn't that the same? :D

Well, the six more weeks of winter part is the same. You didn't really think that there is any escape from that immutable truth, did you? The rest has more to do with who must buy whom the libations that follow, or so I'm told.

I can't fight off the feeling that somehow bagpipes were originally involved, and you know that nothing good can ever come of that.

Thank you Joan. :D

But.... if it's bagpipes you're after, my BIL plays them and is I believe, very good. He competes all over the world, including the Edinborough Tattoo in Scotland.

Most of us northern tier, midcontinental Americans are delusional at this time of year. JoanB is right....either way, if you are lucky it is 6 more weeks of winter, depending on your definition of winter....

For me it is 12 more weeks of winter, because it can still snow heavily for a month after the Spring equinox. Ugh....please not this year! I will be twice as fat at that ground hog! Eat and sleep, oh, and hallucinate.

I think the groundhog went back inside around here, (FAST!)
cause thy're predicitng 18-24 inches of snow in Wash-Balto area
starting today and going through tomorrow nite.
Blizzard conditions tonite thru tomorrow and
more snow predicted for next Weds-Thurs.
(Tues by some accounts)
I'm scheduled to go- off to the mountains of PA,
the last weekend of the month on a ski vvacation with friends
(I don't ski anymore because of the PN, but we all have fun
spending a week together.)
If this winter weather keeps up, it'll be ideal for my wife & friends,
but its a bummer trying to dig out, here in the city. I do as litttle of it
as possible, leaving the hard work to the local younger guys
who come around with shovels, trying to make a little extra spending money.

Bob

I hope you have one of those giant horsepower, self propelled snow blowers like we do! You are going to get nailed! You are getting more snow than here in the midwest! That makes me nervous, since March is when we get some of the biggest storms here....ugh. I WANT SPRING!

That groundhog is useless.

Nope, only commercial outfits have that kind of equipment in the inner-city. Some out in the counties, maybe, but I live in the 'Inner Harbor' area. Row homes and slightly hilly. Kinda like D.C.'s Georgetown, but with hills. Causes problems getting up streeets with snow or ice.

Its coming out of the South, along with the Western front.
When it comes out of the south it picks up moisture from the Gulf
and also from the Atlantic. Here on the Chesapeake, it picks up a little from the Bay, as well - so we really get nailed.
Bad storms in the summer when it comes out of the South, and big snow in the winter. But usually only one time in the month of Feb. This'll be the second time over 20" in less than 4 weeks - and more to come!
Due to the cyclonic swirl anti-clockwise, it drives as NE, which is where the Nor'Easter term comes from, but it actually is moving from S to N.
We usually get Canadian fronts (from the N & NW) with snow in the winter, maybe 1"-3", but when its from the South..... watch out!

We're not prepared for this, below the Mason-Dixon line. I heard on the news this a.m., that this city is already $10 million over budget for salt & snow removal.

Yeah, no sense having a huge snowblower for a small walk. We are not getting much from this storm like you are...maybe some lake effect, if that reaches us. Winds out of the northeast.

We have a 150' driveway, and we live out in the open...not many trees except the baby ones I planted. Farmers took them all out to farm every inch. Anyway, that leaves us vulnerable to snowfalls, even small ones drift, and no one is walking around out here with a shovel, lol. Hubby finally bought a decent snowblower two years ago and he is happy as a lark. He deserves it...he shoveled long drives for many a year. He is hitting the big 60 this year....waaaayyy too old to shovel, lol. At least that is what I tell him.

At work I have maybe 25'-30', about 12'-15' on each side (I'm on a corner)
and that walk has to be shoveled ihn front of the retail store - but I won't be around until Monday, I'm sure. Definitely won't be able to open tomorrow, and I'm a one-man operation. So I'll be digging out the vehicles @ home on Sunday and then the store, at work, on Monday. I am not looking forward to it.
At 65, & with emphysema (sp?) and PN- its slow, hard work.

Maybe you DO need one of those big blowers! Push button start! Sweet.

South of where i am is getting nailed this year compared to us. Usually winters are milder for virginia and north carolina than here. WE had one 25" snowfall in December but its been pretty quiet since. This storm may leave us with only a dusting. Its a nice change of pace.

Echoes.........Go ahead.......gloat !!
I shut the shop down, closed up - and headed for the homestead.
Stopped off, and picked up some brewski, & now I'm snug as a bug
and don't want to even look out the window for the next day or so.
Think I'll rustle up a crock-pot of Beef Stew, Chili,
or a Jambalaya, and settle back til this is over.
Mebbe set up some biscuits or cornbread too.

Ode to Bob.

"Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful
So since you've got no place to go,
Let it snow. Let is snow. Let is snow!"

Hum, Hum, Hum. La, La, La.....

For a change, the temp is above freezing here and the sun is peeking thru a cloudy sky. (It won't last, don't worry.)

OK, so I can't carry a tune....I tried.

I hear you Bob, we are having quite a winter this year. I don't think we have had this much snow for years... 24" - everything in our area will be paralyzed for sure - I am in the Annapolis area.

Mere

You can sit by the fire or the TV, drink hot chocolate and eat crumpets or what ever is eaten on the east coast....lol. Yes, you do have good and cheap lobster and other seafood....we have brats, lol.

Oh, don't forget the blankies, mittens, hat, and warm booties....Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.:hug: Not much else you can do when Mother Nature lets loose. At least it is Friday nite. Don't go anywhere!

Weather is WEATHER! Can't change it?
 

Here just below Dee of Cee? The word is 'Snopocolypse'! It's gonna rank in the top five EVER in this area and this is a rating that goes back to something like 1890? ME? I just wanna hibernate. AND HOPE like heck that the power doesn't go out! W/ My PN? I turn blue too readily!

As for the Groundhog - IF I remember right and could not find reference? The IF he saw his shadow X days were to ensue, and if not? X weeks ensued..Much to my 9th grade disillusion was the calculation of the 'days'.. About one or two? Depending on leap years... Sad but also silly reflection of 'THE DAY'!

I Say 'THE DAY'? As I chose it as my wedding day... [HARD TO FORGET?] Then to please parents got re-married in the 'church' on April Fools... It IS a day of absurdity, and is FUN! Please one and all keep that in mind? Don't forget that this years' 'Phil' certainly didn't look starved or deprived... Just woken up abruptly... Hey-I don't look that bright waking up! I'm gonna sit this crud out, and hope for a minor miracle or three.
Hugs and hope to all and maybe some FUN! We can't have a snowball fight on this board, can we? :hug::hug:'s - j