“Okay campers, rise, and shine, and don’t forget your booties ‘cause it’s cold out there…”
The beginning of February falls roughly halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and has long been a significant time of year. Just ask Phil? . . , Phil Connors? (Bill Murray). Every February 2nd since 1887, a groundhog (perpetually named Punxsutawney Phil) in Gobblers Knob, Pennsylvania, emerges from its burrow to foretell the weather. Based on the appearance of the sun and if he sees his shadow, it predicts six more weeks of winter. If no shadow, an early spring.
The locals claim that Phil the groundhog has never been wrong, but an examination of the records show that he is accurate less than 40 percent of the time.
Other notable events of note falling on February 2nd; In 1653 New Amsterdam became a city (later renamed New York). In 1959 Vince Lombardi signed a 5-year contract to coach the NFL Green Bay Packers. In 1975 Dorothy Hamill won the US female Figure Skating Championship. In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican–American War: US acquired Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona for $15 million. And in 2020 Palindrome Day: February 2nd (in full mm-dd-yyyy format) 02-02-2020 read the same forward and backward. Last time that happened was 11-11-1111.
With the frigid temperatures already hammering the eastern portions of the U.S. let’s hope Phil didn’t see his shadow this morning. Then pretty soon we can all start planting flowers, taking nature walks and pressure washing everything.