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Other Topics => Completely Off-Topic => Topic started by: Holly on February 01, 2004, 10:11:35 pm
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tomorrow is groundhog's day (and my doggy's birthday, lol)
I hope that he doesnt see his shadow and winter is over! (that's how it works, right?)
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i hope my day doesn't just keep repeating lol
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i hope my day doesn't just keep repeating lol
lmao, great movie!
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i hope my day doesn't just keep repeating lol
lmao, great movie!
That is one of the best ever movies.....
*pops it in for the 25th time*
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groundhogs day is also my moms birthday! I gotta call her, thanks for the reminder ;p
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He saw his freaking shadow
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He saw his freaking shadow
I demand a re-count!
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What is Groundhog's day?
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What is Groundhog's day?
Groundhog day is the day when the Groundhog emerges from hibernation
(http://www.claymera.com/groundhog-revised.jpg)
European Roots
(Adapted from "Groundhog Day: 1886 to 1992" by Bill Anderson)
Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.
If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.
If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.
The groundhog tradition stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and the days of early Christians in Europe, and for centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.
According to an old English song:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go Winter, and come not again.
According to an old Scotch couplet:
If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There'll be twa (two) winters in the year.
Another variation of the Scottish rhyme:
If Candlemas day be dry and fair,
The half o' winter to come and mair,
If Candlemas day be wet and foul,
The half of winter's gone at Yule.
The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, supposedly brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather, which they interpolated as the length of the "Second Winter."
Pennsylvania's earliest settlers were Germans and they found groundhogs to in profusion in many parts of the state. They determined that the groundhog, resembling the European hedgehog, was a most intelligent and sensible animal and therefore decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, so wise an animal as the groundhog would see its shadow and hurry back into its underground home for another six weeks of winter.
The Germans recited:
For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until the May.
This passage may be the one most closely represented by the first Punxsutawney Groundhog Day observances because there were references to the length of shadows in early Groundhog Day predictions.
Another February 2nd belief, used by American 19th century farmers, was:
Groundhog Day - Half your hay.
New England farmers knew that we were not close to the end of winter, no matter how cloudy February 2nd was. Indeed, February 2nd is often the heart of winter. If the farmer didn't have half his hay remaining, there may have been lean times for the cows before spring and fresh grass arrived.
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What is Groundhog's day?
It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.
If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.
If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.
(and a very funny movie starring Bill Murray)
find out all about it on
http://www.groundhog.org/
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you beat me to it...............
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lol
you gotta type faster, Jo
;)
That movie comes on tv here about 60 times a year
*sigh
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you beat me to it...............
we posted in the exact same minute :razz:
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That movie comes on tv here about 60 times a year
*sigh
I noticed it in the TV guide today... :razz:
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He saw his freaking shadow
Damnit!
If he lived here he would have not seen his shadow because it is cloudy. lol
I think it's weird how it works though, sunny=winter, cloudy=spring? I think of it the other way around!
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Damn Americans have a name for every day ;)
Just kidding :P
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Damn Americans have a name for every day ;)
Just kidding :P
lol, actually, i think we do!
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ryan told me in canada they have it too but thier groundhog isnt puncsitany phil its something that starts with a g or something???
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Damn Americans have a name for every day ;)
Just kidding :P
lol, actually, i think we do!
Yeah, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Pfft some people! :razz:
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He saw his freaking shadow
Damnit!
If he lived here he would have not seen his shadow because it is cloudy. lol
I think it's weird how it works though, sunny=winter, cloudy=spring? I think of it the other way around!
AND it'd be more scary NOT to see your shadow because then you'd be a ghost! hahaha
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Dont drive angry! Dont drive angry!
(http://www.gryp.fsnet.co.uk/groundh.jpg)