How many S's in Punxatawney?

So it has happened, Punxatawney Phil was too hung over from his post superbowl reveling to come out of his hole this morning, and has doomed us all to 6 more weeks of winter. Way to go Steelers, you might have won more Super Bowls than any other team in history, but now I have to pay for oil for another 6 damn weeks!

What is it about groundhogs day which captures our imaginations? Usually when I use an animal to predict the future, I just cut it open to read its entrails. What else could possibly bring us to care about Punxatawnassassipi Pennsylvania. A quick gander at the Wikipedia tells me, that like all great American traditions, Groundhog Day has it's roots in medeval pagan holidays.



Whatever the reason, this holiday fuels small town economies all over the country, and gives morning news show anchors to do for once. It had given birth to a classic Bill Murray movie. There are even some weird spin-offs. Like Bostons Drowned Hogs Day which is a holiday dozens of drunk Bostonians jump into the harbor, and if their nipples go point, we get six weeks without erections.

It could be the cute animal, or the quaint old-fashioned feeling of looking to nature to tell us the future, but something keeps us coming back. Maybe this year, Bill Murray will finally blow up that damn groundhog. (or was that a gopher?)