Ground Hog Day
Groundhog Day is the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring
equinox.
Its origins date back to 3Imbolc,2 an important day in the Celtic calendar.
Imbolc rituals were performed as winter supplies were getting low, in an
attempt to harness divine energy that would ensure food until the harvest
six months later. Fire was important in Imbolc and other pagan Celtic
rituals.
Imbolc became 3Candlemas2 for the Christian calendar. The holiday was
reformed and renamed, and candles were lit to remember the purification of
the Virgin Mary.
As traditions evolved, many people embraced the legend that if the sun shone
on the second day of February, an animal would see its shadow and there
would be at least six more weeks of winter. Some European peoples watched
bears or badgers.
German immigrants to Pennsylvania found an abundance of groundhogs. A
groundhog, marmota monax, is also known as a woodchuck. Some folks tried to
perpetrate a riddle - how much ground would a ground hog hog if a ground hog
could hog ground? - but it never quite caught on, certainly not in
Pennsylvania.
The ground hog is related to squirrels, prairie dogs, and chipmunks. It is
stocky in stature with a flattened head and a bushy tail. They commonly
weigh 4-8 pounds; large ones may be heavier in the autumn. Fur color ranges
from yellowish to dark reddish brown, with an intermediate brown most
common.
In the 19th century residents of Punxsutawney, PA, began celebrating
Groundhog Day. Years later Hollywood celebrated it with its own movie.
--
----------
>From: Cliff Warren <cliffwarren@yahoo.com>
>To: pumpkins@hort.net
>Subject: Re: Happy Candlemas Day
>Date: Wed, Feb 1, 2006, 7:58 AM
>
> I always light candles (figuratively) with pitchers and catchers start
> reporting to spring training...
>
> Don Chambers <dec@stratuswave.net> wrote: Amen. A true statement for
> pumpkin growers...lol. Don
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:
> To:
>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 8:25 AM
> Subject: Happy Candlemas Day
>
>
>> Greetings to all! I feel like I'm coming out of hibernation, I hope not
> too
>> soon!
>> I'm lighting a candle in a pumpkin to mark the occasion of the half way
>> point to
>> the spring equinox. (Candlemas Day, Groundhog Day, ) If I happen to see a
>> marmota monax on Feb. 2, I will shoot it and it will never see it's
> shadow or
>> my pumpkin patch again. I'm sure there will be six more weeks of winter
>> anyway. Think spring!
>> Bev Baker
>> Rehoboth, MA
>>
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