The Origin of Groundhog Day (really).

Songs for a Sunday: Baauer Music Monday: Scenic Route to Alaska

The Origin of Groundhog Day (really).

Punxsutawney Phil. The most famous rodent in the US behind Mickey Mouse.

Gobbler’s Knob. That’s where the stump that Punxsutawney Phil lives in and I can’t say it without giggling…

PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have offered a vegan cake to cut and reveal the weather prediction (not sure how that would work). In previous years they have suggested flipping a coin, looking at a thermometer (if it’s cold, it’s winter), or tossing persimmon seeds.

I’m sure Punxsutawney Phil would prefer any of those alternatives to being yanked out of his stump, and since he has only been correct 38% of the time…

[I am reposting this from last year in case you missed it.]

The Origin of Groundhog Day

At some point in the distant past, or perhaps not so distance, a person, somewhere, looked out into the forest (or their field) during what felt like a long cold winter, although it may have been unseasonably mild that year, and saw a groundhog—what they use to call ‘dirtpigs’ in the days of yore—poke their head out of the dry, cozy burrow.

Angered by the encroachment of this pest, the farmer/hunter/settler grabbed the trusty and extremely accurate blunderbuss*, raced out into the cold (or unseasonably mild) winter day and preceded to shoot at this varmint.

Now, you might think this is where the origin story ends, with the animal darting back into it’s hole—which animals are prone to do when getting shot at with a 17th century firearm—and the shooter waiting 6 weeks, suffering through the now bitterly cold weather, and claiming that the actions of the Marmota monax (also known as the woodchuck, a rodent of the family Sciuridae) caused the elongation of the winter season, thus perpetuating the myth of what’s now commonly called Groundhog Day.

But you’d be wrong.

It’s all because of that damn Bill Murray movie**.

*Wondering what a blunderbuss is?

**Which one, though?

Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/