Groundhog has gloomy projection

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – There will be six more weeks of winter, Punxsutawney Phil predicted as he emerged from his burrow on a snowy Tuesday morning to perform his Groundhog Day duties.

Members of Phil’s “inner circle” woke the furry critter at 7:25 a.m. at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to see whether he would see his shadow.

A member of the “inner circle” noted the uniqueness of the past year.

“People have been referencing ‘Groundhog Day.’ It has felt like at times we’re all living the same day over and over again,” one of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club members said, referring to the 1993 film. “Groundhog Day also shows us that the monotony ends. The cycle will be broken.”

“Today actually is Groundhog Day; there’s only one,” he said. “There is quite literally a new day coming over the horizon.”

The spectacle that is Groundhog Day still went on, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, revelers weren’t able to see Phil and celebrate in person: This year, it was all virtual and included cardboard cutouts to represent spectators.

A livestream played footage from previous Groundhog Days before the big reveal. Then the prognosticator of prognosticators emerged at dawn.

Wearing top hats, members of the club summoned Phil from a new tree stump. A club member announced, “We have all passed through the darkness of night but now see hope in morning’s bright light. But now when I turn to see, there’s a perfect shadow cast of me.”