You probably expected a rodent to celebrate Groundhog's Day, but here is an 80's news microphone.
Phil Connors' Microphone: I love the 1993 cult classic Groundhog's Day. It is a comedy that works perfectly well as a surface level flick but also has incredible depth as it explores the ideas of reincarnation and karmic cycles.
For those of you not in the United States, and even if you are but don't know, Groundhog's day is a day in which a groundhog is drawn from its hole and asked if it sees its shadow. If the groundhog sees its shadow due to clear weather, six more weeks of winter are foretold. If the groundhog is met with cloudy weather and doesn't see its own shadow, then spring is soon on its way.
The holiday has its origins in German-speaking immigrants bringing their celebration of Badgerday. They used a badger instead of a groundhog, but the basic rules of the day were the same. This was celebrated on Candlemas, a Christian tradition I was only dimly aware of. How Candlemas and the, what I assume to be a pre-Christian holiday, of Badger Day became connected, I do not know.
My atheist brain's first leap when I hear Candlemas is Candle Nights, brought to you by the McElroy brothers.
COVID is still a problem, so mask up, practice social distancing, don't take unnecessary trips, and be excellent to everyone.
-Ceph
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