Highs here are around 42, low predicted for tonight around 32, another yucky day, but hey, this can't last forever. The groundhog if I had one wouldn't have seen his shadow in my garden but apparently he did elsewhere so I guess we can look forward to 6 more weeks of crappy weather. Never mind we've turned the bend and spring is right around the corner, well maybe two or three corners :o). A

6 more weeks. LOL.

We had sunshine, but it was in the low 60's, so to me, it was cold. COLD!

Well, the wind blowing like a hurricane probably made it seem colder. LOL, I am a whiner about cold weather.

Janie

We had enough sunshine that Sir Walter Wally, our groundhog in Raleigh, saw his shadow. Snow in the forecast for tomorrow.

I drove 6 hours roundtrip today on a writing assignment -- saw daffodils and camellias in bloom -- worth it! :-)

Cameron

Overcast this morning - looked like it might storm and wind straight out of the north, so the prairie dog surely didn't come out of his hole . It was chilly, but not cold (to me anyway). Around noon, the clouds blew it away. Stayed chilly with that brisk north wind, but the sunshine was warm. Felt like Spring. Beginning to look like it too - all the plants are beginning to bud out, even the fruit trees (that's not good).

So, with half the day cold and cloudy and the latter half sunny, it's a toss up!

Ok - now explain this for us over here. I have a diary this year which has 'Groundhog Day' written in. My son was looking at it and asked 'Is that a real thing? I thought it was just a film.' So come on, enlighten. Flora.

The groundhog here in Ontario predicted 6 more weeks of winter... Sigh... My driveway is so covered with snow that the bank has reached up to crown of my tree. Can't wait for spring I tell you.

Flora - to explain, a groundhog will hibernate during winter. According to folklore, if the groundhog comes out of his den and sees his shadow he will simply return back to his den to hibernate for another 6 weeks. If he doesn't see his shadow, he will remain outdoors and begin to forage for food which means spring is not far ahead.

"On the wind in February
Snowflakes float still;
Half inclined to turn to rain,
Nipping, dripping, chill."
~ Christina G. Rosetti

There are 45 days until the official beginning of Spring.
Feb. 2nd was originally the ancient Celtic celebration of Candlemas. February 2nd is the half-way point between Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox (Spring). The festival was to celebrate that the days were getting longer, so spring was on its way! In other words, it was a Midwinter celebration. It gave people something to look forward to in the dreariness of Winter - the coming of Spring!

Here is an old Scottish poem about Candlemas :

"As the light grows longer,
The cold grows stronger.
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight.
If Candlemas be cloud and rain,
Winter will be gone and not come again.
A farmer should on Candlemas day,
Have half his corn and half his hay.
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop,
You can be sure of a good pea crop."

BTW - Groundhogs (aka Woodchucks) do not hibernate. They burrow deep in the ground below freezing level.

Annie, ooops you're right. Not quite hibernating but simply hiding from the cold.

Here in Oklahoma we have Prairie Dogs (in the SW part of the state). They also burrow. They have chambers below the ground where they live, eat and give birth. They go out and forage for seeds and tender plants and take storable food back down into the burrow to live on in the winter months. On warm sunny days in winter, they may come out for brief periods to clean out the poop, get a drink, and catch some rays! Woodchucks are much the same kind of critter...only much bigger. :)

Cheers!
~Annie