Groundhog Day!

It's cold, and no self-respecting groundhog will venture out today, but if he did, he would not see his shadow, traditionally indicating spring is six weeks away. In case you are not aware - it was Punxsutawney Pete who predicted the weather back in 1887, when Groundhog Day was first celebrated in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. In 1952, William A. Swartworth, a somewhat cynical reporter for the Associated Press in 1952, either by design or disregard for details, changed the groundhog's name to Phil. When challenged about the change, he claimed he named the 'chuck after Pittsburgh Phil, a notorious con man. However appropriate that might be, some prefer to think of Phil as Pete's son - but either way, we can probably depend on having at least six more weeks of winter weather ahead of us here in Vermont, regardless of Phil's predictions in Pennsylvania.

 Some of you may be interested in this profile Amanda Legare wrote for this month's Cabot Chronicle.