Groundhog Day and the Superbowl

So the big news this weekend for me wasn’t that the Superbowl was an utter blowout (congrats, Seattle), but that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and there will be six more weeks of winter. I love Punxsutawney Phil, and I *love* the movie Groundhog Day. Seriously, I love it. It’s by turns dark and uplifting, moral and amoral, and Bill Murray just nails the role of the beleaguered weatherman who must relive the same day over and over and over again–Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pa., to be precise. For those of you who have seen the movie, my favorite scene is the montage where he’s trying to woo Andie MacDowell’s character and trying to walk the fine line between interested and creepy (given that he knows everything about her by the time the twentieth day rolls around).

Anyhow, I LOVE Groundhog Day, but  I have mixed feelings about winter. Especially winter in California. See, we’re in the middle of a drought here (apparently on track to be the worst one in 500 years!), and I know this summer is going to be just awful, but right now, in the early days of February, it’s 70 degrees and sunny. We ride bikes and go on hikes every weekend. We play in the park. We draw with chalk on the sidewalks and wear short-sleeved shirts. It’s wonderful, and yet I feel guilty. Guilty because the polar vortex is gripping the rest of the nation, and everyone is buried in snow and the wind chill makes New York City feel like it’s -30 degrees and it’s not really fair that here it’s so beautiful outside right now with the chirping birds and the sun shining and the trees blooming.

I know I don’t control the weather, but I feel guilty anyway. (Why is it that we can feel guilty about something over which we have no control?)

So to assuage my guilt, I’m doing a giveaway. Tell me what you feel guilty about for no reason at all, and I’ll choose one random commenter to win Toni Blake’s Holly Lane, which is chock-full of snow and blizzards and wintery scenes. U.S. only, please, and you must be signed up for my newsletter to win. Contest ends Thursday,  February 6 at 9pm Pacific.