Groundhog Day

Today is Groundhog Day. It was always a big day in my house from 1947 when I was three. My only brother and sibling was born on February 2^nd. We lived in Pennsylvania at the time so Puxatony Phil was a rock star in our eyes. My brother lives in Colorado now, but Phil XX (or whatever Roman numeral he is) is still around; I saw him on TV this morning. For the record, he saw his shadow so we will have six more weeks of winter. Surprise, surprise! They were saying on the news this morning that as a meteorologist, Phil is terrible. He has gotten only 6 of the last 30 years correct. That’s 20% or one-fifth of the time. I wonder how good today’s weather people are forecasting six weeks out at a time.

There was a movie made over ten years ago I think called “Groundhog Day”, starring Bill Murray, who played a weatherman, and every day when he woke up, the same day started over again. I think. The reason I don’t know for sure is I never watched it. I don’t know why; I love Bill Murray. I loved him in “Caddyshack” and in “Stripes”. Okay, I went to Wikipedia and just now read about it. I was close. I’ll have to take it out from the library.

There was a book written in the past few years about a woman who kept dying, but then came back to life, and her life then went on from there until when she died again. I began it but could stay with it for some reason, but it made some bestseller lists. The author was a popular writer, and I believe still is popular. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t get into it.

A sort-of Groundhog Day movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life”, the Christmas favorite starring Jimmy Stewart. We watch it every Christmas. Well, my wife does. I don’t every year, but when I do, I enjoy it. It’s just that it’s a long movie – over two hours. Interestingly, the distance between Punxsutawney, PA, and Indiana, PA, is just 28 miles. Why is that significant? Indiana is the town where Stewart was born. It’s just sort of a circular thing. What’s more, I met Stewart and his wife in 1969 when they were visiting troops in Vietnam. They were very nice folks. And oh, by the way, my wife was born in Geneva, NY, 11 miles from Seneca Falls, the town that many people believe was the inspiration for the movie town of Bedford Falls, NY. As I said, sort of a circular pattern here, wouldn’t you say?

Anyway, have a great day and hope tomorrow is equally great, but different. 

(Book Antiqua 12 font)