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Monday was Groundhog Day, and y’all know what that means: the rest of the season is allegedly determined by whether or not a large member of the squirrel family gets scared of his own shadow. Most of the US is still trying to thaw out from the cold temperatures that Mother Nature has thrust upon us, so curious minds woke up on Monday waiting to see what that little groundhog predicted. Do we need to get ready for another six weeks of this bleak, cold winter or is spring just around the corner? Well, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his den, took one look at that shadow, and scurried back inside, indicating that we should all buckle down and keep those gloves out because six more weeks of winter are coming our way.

Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of wintry weather Monday, a forecast sure to disappoint many after what’s already been a long, cold season across large parts of the United States.

His annual prediction and announcement that he had seen his shadow was translated by his handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club at Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania.

The news was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos from the tens of thousands who braved temperatures in the single-digits Fahrenheit to await the annual prognostication. The extreme cold kept the crowd bundled up and helped keep people on the main stage dancing.

[From the AP]

Booooo, we want a redo! Give us a best of three, Phil. We’ll even take three out of five! The good news for anyone else out there who, like me, is ready for spring is that Punx-y Phil only has a 35% accuracy rate. I like those odds because these past few weeks of cold weather have me going stir crazy. I can’t take six more weeks of winter. I need some warm sunshine, the ability to leave my house at a reasonable hour without worrying about black ice, and no more virtual schooling. Plus, are we even sure that Phil saw his shadow? Maybe he just caught an MS NOW clip playing in the background, realized what he’d missed over the last few months, and decided to use his groundhog privilege to go back into hibernation.

For what it’s worth, predictions were split among other groundhogs, with 35 ground hogs predicting early spring and 39 of them predicting six more weeks of winter. I have never rooted for the underdogs more than I am right now. I’ve had enough of snow and ice. I want springtime.

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