There is something strange about witnessing men all suited up and donning top hats on the cusp of daybreak. The official name of this group of gentleman is, The Inner Circle. They are the caretakers of the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, who predicts if we will see six more weeks of winter or an early end by whether or not he sees his shadow. Phil is named after King Phillip and has been predicting the weather atop Gobbler’s Knob since February 2, 1887.
What’s amazing, is that after all these years, and all the incarnations of Phil (groundhogs average a lifespan of about 6-7 years, so you do the math), that he is one of the largest tourist attractions in the state of Pennsylvania during the winter months. Plus he still has the recognition of being on most every printed calendar year after year on the day of February 2nd.
I have been watching video of Phil since I was a little girl. It’s amazed me that after all these years Phil has never bitten or been rough with any of his handlers, as they hold two different scrolls to his face when he is atop his little home (which looks like a tree stump). They hold the two scrolls to his nose, and see which one he moves toward or sort of moves his nose at, and they choose which scroll to read to the crowd based on his movements.
What bothered me this year and has in past years as well, is that I would prefer they let Phil crawl out from his home on his own accord, and not drag him out. I would also like to see them not throw the poor little guy around so much, this year at one point his little legs were wailing in the air as they threw him around like a little rag doll.
Nevertheless, with everything else going on in this country, it feels good to watch an American tradition like Groundhog Day continue and flourish. It’s adorable to witness the simple and genuine allegiance the Inner Circle show Phil, and the crowd grows larger each year. It’s just too bad that we’re stuck with six more weeks of winter, but I don’t think we needed a groundhog seeing his shadow to convince us of that.
