Déjà vu

Punxsutawney Phil has made everyone very happy by declaring that our shivering and shoveling days will soon be over.  I decided to watch all the pomp and circumstance around the little guy’s decision (video here) and I’m not sure if the all-knowing rodent is on the up and up.

The poor thing gets tugged out from his artificial stump and plopped into the Inner Circle (their language, not mine) of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club up on Gobbler’s Knob.  People are shouting and waving signs and it looked to me that the furry Seer of Spring was trying to make a break for it, away from the top-hatted groundhog enthusiasts.  The president of the Club then proceeded to converse with Phil in “Groundhogese" to determine our wintery fate.  Personally, I think that Phil mutters something like “Bugger off” and asks to be put back in his borough. Let’s give the poor creature a break.  It’s a lot of pressure to put on a groundhog who didn’t apply for the gig (I bet he didn’t go to meteorology school either). 

Either way it turns out, we know Spring will come at some point, even as storm after storm buries our good spirits under the heavy snow banks.  But as our collective patience wanes thin, take solace in the fact that tulips, much like this one, will begin to push their cheery heads through the slush as the Earth enters its next season.  So, just a bit more patience, my fellow New Englanders, we will be complaining about the unbearable muggy days of Summer in no time.