Groundhog Day

            We’re coming up on my favorite holiday – Groundhog Day.  I like it because it’s not commercialized. I don’t see many Groundhog Day cards and there’s no official menu (like an Easter ham or Thanksgiving turkey) so we can chow down on comfort food because it’s still cold, snowy and windy and we need a little extra pizza, cake, popcorn, wine or cheesecake to chase away the doldrums.

            Besides, I like the little varmint. We had a resident groundhog that lived under the trees and amid  the bushes and brush at the far end of our backyard. He was chunky with a large behind and we enjoyed watching him waddle quickly along the perimeter. We named him Wally. After a while we noticed another groundhog and we figured found a mate - “Walletta.” They made a cute pair but Good Neighbor Dave didn’t agree. It seems they decided their growing family needed more shelter and they found it under his shed.

            Nevertheless, I get a kick out of Puxatony Phil every year.  Whether he sees his shadow or not, I know winter is half over. There’s something corny and homey about the good people of Puxatony, PA as they gather around the gentleman dressed in top hat and old time suit as he holds up the furry critter. Where else is nonsense celebrated so well?

Some people rent the movie Groundhog Day for February 2^nd. Not a bad idea; it is one of those heartwarming movies that stays in your mind for years.

            Have a happy Groundhog Day and remember this winter WILL end.

 

It's All Relative

If asked, I would say that today is gorgeous.  Years ago I was shopping in the mall when the clerk asked me about the weather, since she was nowhere near a window or door. I grinned and assured her it was just lovely outside– then proceeded to describe how the sky was overcast, with brooding clouds that threatened rain. It was nippy too and the wind was picking up. As I spoke I watched her face fall. Apparently, we did not share the same idea of lovely weather.

I’ve come to realize that I am one of the few who prefer dark days to sunny ones, but trust me when I tell you, I am not alone. Every once in a while a few people will nod their heads and whisper that they feel the same way. There’s not many of us. In fact only one friend in my quilting group appreciates a sky with a darker personality. The rest of the ladies just laugh and say “only you two” and shake their heads. I told one friend who lives in Florida that not only did I like cool overcast days; I thought day after day of sunshine was like a darn fool who doesn’t know enough to stop grinning. This summer during the heat wave I send her one sentence through Facebook : “The darn fool won’t stop grinning!” She knew immediately and responded “LOL.”  Now there’s a friend who gets me.

Fall is especially prone to dark, nippy days. Maybe it’s because I’m descended from European peasant stock; around this time of year a primordial need to prepare for winter bubbles from deep inside. I suddenly have the urge to make homemade soup and bake pies. I want to make a cozy nest. The more clouds, the colder it gets, the more naked the trees become, the more I want “cozy.”

That domesticity, mostly dormant, awakens when the weather  has a little edge to it. The rest of time I can find a thousand things to do other than bake pies. As one friend replied in an email where I spoke of being a “domestic maven”, he only stopped laughing after he fell on the floor and hit his head.

How many of you share the secret pleasure of gloom? If you don’t and think I’m nuts, click below on the “blech!” choice. If you’re one of an apparently small secret society of dark day devotees, click on “agree.”  Who knows, maybe there are more out there like me.