Snowflakes and groundhogs

Do you have a love/hate relationship with snow days?  As a kid, it was always so exciting to have a snow day but as an adult, I’m torn between loving the snow, being able to work from home and having to shovel all of the snow that led to having a snow day in the first place! So after another crazy day at work (okay, I know it can't even compare to Anderson Cooper's day at work!), I'm left with no energy to shovel in excess of 25 centimeters of snow so while Sarah's boyfriend shovels my driveway (seriously!  he's such a great kid!), I've decided to make paper snowflakes (remember, I’m trying to explore my nonexistent inner artist? If you don't remember then you should read my blog post "The Accidental Artist").   Seriously though, who knew that art was so therapeutic?!?  Now if only I was good at it :)

Before you judge check out my snowflake masterpiece, here’s a poem for you to enjoy (and ponder!) by Emily Dickinson: 

Snowflakes
I counted till they danced so
Their slippers leaped the town,
And then I took a pencil
To note the rebels down.
And then they grew so jolly
I did resign the prig,
And ten of my once stately toes
Are marshalled for a jig!

Battlesnowflake Galactica by Tracey

Okay, so maybe my third snowflake doesn’t quite look like a snowflake, okay, it doesn’t look at all like a snowflake (hello...it's in two pieces!)!  Actually, now that I've stared at it for a few minutes, I'm noticing a very close resemblance to a spaceship.  Actually, it looks like the spaceships are  fighting the snowflakes.  I think I’ll call this artistic piece…Battlesnowflake Galactica.  BFF will be proud :)

Isn’t it exciting how the small things in life can make you happy?!?  Hmmmm…maybe that’s what Ms. Dickinson was trying to convey in her poem.   

Speaking of happy, I wonder if that’s how Wiarton Willie felt today when he came out to see or not to see his shadow in all of this snow?  According to media reports, organizers of Groundhog Day had to adjust to the near whiteout conditions by moving the annual event inside a tent for the first time in its 55-year history.  Even with all of this snow, Wiarton Willie has predicted an early spring…really Willie?  Well, Environment Canada claims that Wiarton Willie is wrong (how dare you?) and that we have another six weeks until winter is officially over (ugh!). 

For those of you who don’t “celebrate” Groundhog Day, folklore has it that if a groundhog sees his shadow on Groundhog Day he'll flee to his burrow, heralding six more weeks of winter, and if he doesn't, it means spring is around the corner.

According to an article I read on the CBC website, the origins of the tradition aren't clear, but it's likely related to the fact that Groundhog Day falls midway between the start of winter and the beginning of spring.  How groundhogs got a reputation for predicting weather patterns is a mystery, because they are not the least bit interested in their shadows or the number of winter weeks remaining. The only reasons they come out of hibernation are for food and sex (those dirty groundhogs!).

I also learned that Groundhog Day was inspired by an old Scottish couplet:

"If Candlemas Day is bright and clear/ There'll be two winters in the year."

German settlers in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania are said to have started the tradition of watching if a groundhog sees its shadow in 1887.  Ever heard of Punxsutawney Phil?  He’s the first underground rodent given credit for predicting winter's future course.

In Canada, Wiarton Willie became a household name in 1956 for his February 2nd predictions.  The groundhog was named after a small town named Wiarton in Ontario. But on February 2nd, the first groundhog to come out of his hole in Canada is Schubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia.

Interestingly, scientific studies show groundhogs are accurate only 37 per cent of the time (ha!).

Loyalists insist that Wiarton Willie possesses an uncanny ability to predict because he was born exactly on the 45th parallel, midway between the Equator and the North Pole (wait a minute, wasn't I born on the 45th parallel? does that mean I can predict if we're going to have an early spring?  well, um, let me concentrate a little, um, okay, it's coming to me, I, um, I predict that we are not going to have an early spring! Geez, that was easy!). 

According to meteorologists (you know those people who also struggle to predict the weather accurately!), seasons usually follow a common pattern, so choosing six more weeks of cold and snow is statistically the better bet (kids...do you see how useful math can be?).

So while I’m hibernating this winter (another six weeks...ugh!), maybe I should consider watching the movie Groundhog Day.  Do you find it peculiar that I’ve never seen that movie?

P.S. I have to be honest with you…I didn’t just miraculously come up with those snowflakes on my own (you're surprised?).  I found a website that provided instructions on how to make paper snowflakes (I know, I know…pathetic!).  If you consider yourself to be unartistic (I can’t believe that the word “unartistic” doesn’t exist!  What are you supposed to call someone like me?) but are in the mood to make paper snowflakes (who isn't in the mood for paper snowflakes?), you might want to check out this website.  If you want to make your very own snowflake-fighting spaceships, I'm not really sure where you can find those instructions so you might just have to find your inner artist for that one :)