Halfway through winter…
The groundhog and I seeing
A chilly shadow.
    --Bob Eklund, Los Angeles, California U.S.A.

On the astronomical calendar, February 2 is the date when planet Earth’s orbit takes it to the midpoint between the December Solstice and the March Equinox—here in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re exactly halfway through winter.

But this date is better known, in North America at least, as Groundhog Day.  In American folklore, a small, marmot-like animal called a groundhog is supposed to come out of its hole on February 2 and observe the weather.  If there is sunshine and it sees its shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of winter weather.  The American news media likes to do light-hearted features about this, and they usually focus on a particular groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  This year, they say that this creature (known as “Punxutawney Phil”) did see his shadow, so we evidently have 6 more weeks of winter to look forward to.  (By an odd coincidence, there are exactly 6 weeks until the March Equinox, the first day of spring!)

Click here for a fun article on the subject.