Groundhog Day a little different

PUNXSUTAWNEY: Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog emerged from his tree stump in a light snowfall yesterday to predict another six weeks of winter, as the northeastern United States was blanketed with its second day of snow.

After a yearlong pandemic in which every day has seemed like the previous one, not unlike 1993 movie Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil emerged at dawn, saw his shadow and decided to wait it out for another six weeks, his handlers said.

Every February 2 is known as Groundhog Day. But the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s annual ritual this year in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, 121km northeast of Pittsburgh, was different than the 134 that came before it because the thousands of spectators who usually attend were replaced by cardboard cutouts due to social distancing.

Groundhog Day evolved from a European February 2 ritual into which Germans introduced a hedgehog that foretold six more weeks of bad weather if it saw its shadow, the club said. — Reuters

PHOTO: REUTERS Punxsutawney Phil’s handler, A.J. Dereume, holds the groundhog during the 135th Groundhog Day at Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney yesterday.