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Groundhog’s Day
Punxsutawney Phil is a harbinger of warmer weather to come, but who decided that this groundhog, who has no predictive skill is a reliable rodent meteorologist? Groundhog Day began in 1887 in Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. As the story goes, if the groundhog comes up out of his hole and sees his shadow, gets scared and scurries back home, winter will persist for six more weeks. But beware, he’s only right about 40% of the time according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The tradition began in Germany in conjunction with the holiday Candlemas, also falling on February 2nd. It wasn’t always a groundhog, however, for they are rare in Germany. Their weather-forecasting rodent was the badger. With few, if any badgers in Pennsylvania, the allegiance was transferred to the groundhog. Shadow or not, spring falls on the equinox, when the Sun shines directly on the equator and the length of the day and night are almost equal, but the actual date varies from March 19, 20, or 21 depending upon the year.
Life Lesson: “I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature,” wrote Paulo Coelho.
Being a care partner is a mixed bag of weather and whether . . . you decide what is best for you and your family. As the old soap opera title, Days of Our Lives, live each day to the fullest.
Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist, is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and very wise. His entrée into writing goes like this: Mr. Coelho saw a white feather and took it as a sign that God was giving him the feather to use to write a new book and he began writing that very day. Like many writers, his work is not without controversy but that has not stopped him. Since 1974, he has written almost thirty-five books!