Happy February, everyone. It is hard to believe we are already through January, and while the first month of our year was not too bad weatherwise, the first week of February appears to be doing its best to make up for the relatively pleasant weather we had in January with some bad snowstorms. Fortunately the big nor'easter last week totally missed us, but the Superbowl storm more than made up for last week's MIA blizzard.

Of course while we were getting pummeled here, folks out in Punxsutawney were conferring with Punxsutawney Phil to see what his prediction was for the remainder of winter. Unfortunately, Phil saw his shadow through the snowstorm and is forecasting six more weeks of winter. How he saw his shadow on an overcast morning is beyond me, but that was the proclamation.Perhaps it was all the spotlights from the news crews there to cover the annual announcement that contributed to the shadow. I often wondered where Groundhog Day started and was pleased to discover that it originates from Pennsylvania German traditions.Like most of our modern traditions, Groundhog Day has roots in traditions and superstitions that are centuries old. Our ancestors were much more connected to the earth and the natural world, and in their eyes, the environment around them provided clues to their survival. They believed these clues would help them understand and plan for the seasons, and Groundhog Day is no exception. The first traces of what would become Groundhog Day can be found in a mixture of pagan traditions and the early Christian holiday "Candlemas."Candlemas was a feast day in England when the clergy would bless and distribute candles to the people to remember the presentation of Jesus by his mother, Mary, and the date of her purification at the temple. This holy day occurred in conjunction with the Roman Paganistic tradition of the kidnapping of Proserpine by Pluto, who stole his conquest away to the underworld. Her mother, Ceres, lighted candles and carried them through the night looking for her daughter.When the church gained influence in the Roman Empire, the church had a struggle with keeping new Christians while not antagonizing the Roman authorities. In this case, the new Christians knew of the pagan tradition of carrying candles, so the church leaders decided to incorporate the two traditions but change their meaning. Instead of carrying candles for Ceres, the church leaders changed the symbolism to have the people carry the candles to remember "Mary's purification" instead. This melding of pagan and Christian traditions has occurred in many of our other holidays as well, which probably aided in Christianity's survival.There are various English and Scottish songs and poems about Candlemas. One English song has the verse: "If Candlemas be fair and bright, Come, Winter, have another flight; If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Go Winter, and come not again."When the Roman legions conquered Germany and brought this tradition to the Germans, they heard these superstitions and expanded on them, deciding that if an animal like a hedgehog saw its shadow because of fair weather on Candlemas, it would be a sign of another six weeks of winter. If it was bad weather that day, there would be no shadow, indicating that winter was continuing but would soon end and bring an early spring.When the Pennsylvania Germans arrived, they adapted this tradition to the groundhog, which was a common animal similar to the hedgehog in Pennsylvania and this became the basis of our Groundhog Day tradition. The first recorded celebration was in 1886, but it is possible there were observances beforehand. While crowds normally gathered every year to see if the groundhog would see his shadow, the celebration grew larger after the 1993 release of "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray.The crowds in the years since has sometimes swelled to over 30,000. In 2001, Gov. Ed Rendell attended the ceremony which was simulcast on the Times Square Jumbotron. While the crowds may not be that large now, the ceremony is still well-attended.Punxsutawney is not the only location with a groundhog. Other animals throughout the United States have also been participating in Groundhog Day observances. In fact, a check of Wikipedia reports there are at least 31 creatures who prognosticate the end of winter.Interestingly, the predictions do not have a unanimity with regard to how long winter will continue. In fact this year the tally is 16 predict six more weeks of winter (including Phil) and 14 predict an early spring and one is disputed. The closest celebration to our area is Quarryville, Schuylkill County, and their own animal celebrity Octorara Orphie.Groundhog Day has always been a quaint tradition and a steppingstone to spring, but I cannot help but think about the idea that whether he sees his shadow or not, astronomical spring still occurs on the vernal equinox around March 20. By my reckoning, that always makes spring about six weeks away, so this cute tradition has no wrong prediction technically.However in Pennsylvania we all know that winter could last into April sometimes, so maybe Phil sometimes gets it right. After all, he cannot be any worse than the weathermen this year, eh?Till next time …