I’m not sure I would trust anything Puxatawney Phil or Staten Island Chuck would ‘say’. After all The National Climatic Data Center believes the Groundhog prediction rate to be around 39% accurate. http://bit.ly/b1kIua – which would be good if you were a baseball player but lousy for just about anything else. I guess it’s actually better to bet against the Groundhog.

Groundhog Day is not a myth, legend or fact. But it is a tradition. The tradition goes back hundreds of years and is uniquely American. I really liked the Bill Murray and Andie McDowell movie ‘Groundhog Day’ from 1993. The idea of living the same day over and over again until you get it right was charming. But as far as Groundhog Day goes in 2011, I for one do not want to live through another winter like this ever again. Snow is great if you are going to ski on it, or enjoy wintertime activities. But for working men and women (except for snowplow operators), schoolchildren and managers of city and town budgets, snow is an expensive and just a miserable hassle.

I never really got the concept of Groundhog Day. The groundhog – Phil, Chuck or name that furry creature, comes out of his hole after hibernating. If it is sunny out he becomes frightened of his shadow and goes back underground and we end up with six more weeks of winter. However if it is cloudy – and today here in the New York City area and its environs we are experiences an ice storm, the non-sagacious Groundhog will not be scared of his shadow – he will not have one, and we are in for an early spring. If I were a groundhog and poked my head out in this weather I’d go right back into my hole. And right now, after this winter I’d sign up for only six more weeks of winter.

I guess we should be thankful that there is not a tradition of Groundhog Day being a predictor other things like for instance, the national economy. If someone told you a groundhog could predict the economy with 39% accuracy you probably would not concern yourself too much with that prediction.

So based on today’s cloudy, icy, rainy, weather one might be tempted to hope that we are in for an early spring. That’s something we all could really use right about now. But I will sign up right now for spring arriving 6 weeks from now thank you very much.

I’ve never seen any Groundhog Day activities but apparently there are celebrations. Ever been to one yourself?