Adrift | Punxsutawney Phil takes a look around, says ‘no,’ and goes back inside

||| ADRIFT by LIN MCNULTY, EDITOR |||

It’s another Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Philadelphia and the beloved groundhog came out of his comfy shelter, took a look around, and immediately returned to his burrow.

Lore says Punxsutawney Phil will forecast the next six weeks of weather by his annual determination on February 2 whether it is safe to come out of hiding. If the weather is ‘nice’ and he sees his shadow, he will scurry back to his winter residence for another six weeks.

I’ve never really understood the Phil-osophy behind his actions. It just seems to me that if it’s nice weather he would choose to stay above ground. Apparently that’s not on this hog’s agenda.

Other factors may be influencing his determinedness this year, like, I-don’t-know, perhaps the current state of affairs in our country. I don’t blame him at all for this year’s reaction, and suspect he would have chosen to retreat back into hiding no matter the weather.

Phil has never, to my knowledge, made the February 2 date contingent on anything other than the weather he encounters on his exit. Could he be thinking that another six weeks is going to make everything okay and it will be safe for him to participate in the outside world? But is anybody going back to Punxsutawney in six weeks to see if he actually comes out of hiding? Doubt it. Maybe next year….