Weather-Predicting Whistle Pig History

You know that movie where Bill Murray wakes up every morning to find he's stuck in the same day and has to relive that day over and over?

You know that movie where Bill Murray wakes up every morning to find he's stuck in the same day and has to relive that day over and over?

Alright, that was rather predictable. But the movie in question is Groundhog Day, and it takes place in Punxsutawney, PA. It sounds made up, and the movie's setup of a town that practically worships a groundhog is a bit far-fetched... but apparently it's true. I know, I stopped off there after visiting Cuba (, NY).

Every February 2nd, the good folks of Punxsutawney hold a huge festival to celebrate Groundhog Day. They take their captive groundhog, known as Phil, and lock him in a fake tree stump at Gobbler's Knob for a few hours. The Punxsy People then pull Phil out of that tree stump and make a proclamation that (surprise!) he saw his shadow so winter will persist for another six weeks. It's the second day of February in Punxsutawney, PA... of course winter isn't over! Anyone who believes otherwise is a fool, and a cold fool at that.

However, such cold fools did indeed suffer a tragic winter 17 years ago. Back in those days, Punxsy People held a secret election to decide what Phil would predict for that year. Most years, the vote would end up the obvious way -- more winter. But every few years, the high school kids, who are of voting age in Punxsutawney, would organize and swing the vote to proclaim an early spring. In 1989, that's exactly what happened.

So out came Phil from his claustraphobia-inducing fake tree stump and proclaimed that winter was over and spring was starting. An extended family of yokels who drove up to see the event took this to heart and immediately drove east to the Jersey Shore. There, they proceeded to rent a hotel room and, despite falling snow and a mini-blizzard, spent a weekend on the beach. By Monday, not one of the yokels had double-digit fingers nor toes. To be fair, not many of them had as many past the age of nine, but the point is that frostbite took at least one digit each.

Angry, and in pain, the family drove back to Punxsutawney to teach that lying whistle pig, as a groundhog is sometimes called, a lesson in truth-tellin'. When the yokels arrived at the Groundhog Zoo, which is merely a room at the Punxsutawney Library with a large window, they found that Phil was less than responsive to their complaints. He is, after all, a groundhog, plus the complaints had to be kept to a whisper since they were in a library.

The yokels, undeterred, resolved to kidnap Phil to teach him that truth-tellin' lesson. The actual caper was fairly simple, especially since the yokels had experience hiding "varmits" in their clothing and the zoo's security was a near-sighted old lady who volunteered at the library's reference desk. As the yokels left the zoo, Phil bit his kidnapper's thigh and when the kidnapper tried to pry Phil free, Phil bit his finger off! That's one less.

At the point, the yokels were so mad that they released Phil into an open field. At first that seems like an act of kindness, but the bitten yokel then made a groundhog call which caused Phil to standup and see what sexy groundhogina was asking for his number. While he was surveying the field, the still-bleeding yokel raised his rifle, took careful aim, and pulled the trigger (using his pinky, the only digit besides his thumb that he had left). The shot echoed through the field, and Phil was no more.

The scandal caused quite a few changes in dear old Punxsutawney. The voting stopped, and Phil's replacement bent to the wisdom of meteorology and has been predicting six more weeks of winter ever since. The zoo also changed, doubling its security force to one near-sighted old lady and one far-sighted old lady so that distance wouldn't be a factor.

The town of Punxsutawney also erected a monument to the slain Phil. It shows Phil being tricked by the yokels and about to get shot. The yokels are represented by a cannon to symbolize their excessive force and stupidity. The cannon also helps to get a sense of scale given that Phil's statue is almost six feet tall.

That building in the back is an elementary school.
"Mommy, why is Phil about to get blown to bits?"

Today is "Flag" Day! It's also the first anniversary of Paddy O'Wife's first blog post. And also the 31st anniversary of PO'W's brother's birth. (Happy Birthday, Ray!) Who knew Flag Day was so eventful?