Groundhog Day

Among the perks of working in a news environment in the early morning hours is the ability, on February 2nd, to witness multiple hours of Groundhog Day festivities. Never (except, of course, in the movie of the same name) have I seen so much dancing around a tree stump by so many people, both wearing top hats and wearing big-eyed, buck-toothed caps. And the pulling out of the groundhog and having a conversation with him before reading a poetic proclamation from a scroll--well, let's just say, that never gets old.

Obviously, it is ridiculous that we believe that the groundhog's seeing his shadow or not in that specific place on this specific day determines how much longer we will be dealing with winter. And perhaps few of us really believe--we simply enjoy the tradition, the ritual of it all. It gives some sense of normalcy to a life that, even more so these days than most, feels anything but normal.

As I strung together the groundhog highlights to send out to stations across the country, I thought happily about the movie (would I really want to repeat this day?!) and about the fact that in the midst of all kinds of change, some things, odd as they are, remain the same.

And thus ends Groundhog Day 2017...