Oh, the wonderful feeling of when we celebrate Groundhog Day! This special day is designated to be celebrated on the second day of each February. In many areas of the United States and the majority of areas in Canada, February is synonymous with freezing temperatures, snow blizzards, wind chill factors and that feeling that people just can not wait for the springtime to begin. Those who celebrate Groundhog Day will most likely be those who live in colder climates. The theory to the holiday is that a groundhog, who hides in a burrow during the cold winter months, will emerge for a moment and look to see if he sees his shadow. If he does see it, he will go back inside his hiding spot and not come back out for six weeks; this story tells us that there will be at least six more weeks of cold winter weather. However, if that groundhog does not see his shadow, the will stay outside and this will mean that spring is coming very soon. Now, most people realize that if a groundhog does emerge on this day, whether or not he sees his shadow has no bearing on the weather and will not actually influence the cold weather. However, those who like to celebrate Groundhog Day understand that it is all taken in fun and simply done for a quick comic relief to break up the repetitiveness of the cold and usually long winter months.
The celebration of this day actually goes way back to the ancient Celtic holiday that is called Imbolog. Long ago, Celtics celebrated this Imbolog day to mark the day that was the middle between winter and spring. Farming was extremely important in those days, so the weather and the forecast of weather were extremely important to the moral of the people. If they believed that spring was to come early; celebration could begin. People in those times began to believe that if the weather was nice on that particular day, spring would come early and if the weather was cold that winter would continue for quite some time.
As time went on, the early Christians took this day called Imbolog and changed it to Candlemas. The theory that the weather on that certain day would forecast an early or late spring continued. The Roman people soon learned of this celebration and the word of this belief spread over to the Germans. When the German people immigrated over to the United States, they brought the celebration with them. However, this is when the day changed and the concept of the groundhog animal was brought in. Because those original German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, this state now is the official place of those who celebrate Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania has a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil and many will gather around on this day to see if he emerges from his hole. Many locals get very excited that the holiday revolves around their town and usually the media from around the country will have camera and reporters stationed there to see if the groundhog does indeed see his shadow or not. Everyone knows that it is all done in fun and it offers those who participate a good feeling that tradition is being followed. Many people will watch for the results via television, radio or Internet and most will say that a small part of them believes the theory of the groundhog’s shadow.