Early Spring?

This is just one of the many Groundhog holes in either the hay fields or the pastures. There has been zero action in any of them. I don't know if the Inner Circle of top hat wearing men with funny names such as “Iceman” and “Moonshine” trek out to Gobblers Knob to purposefully wake Phil for his prognostication about the arrival of spring, but my groundhogs are having none of it, despite the warm weather.

Each year on my wall calendar I make notes as to the arrivals of hibernating and migratory species. Right now I'm about two weeks ahead with the woodpeckers who tend to show up closer to Presidents’ Day weekend. Last year the groundhogs made their debut on January 29, but this year they’re sleeping in.

There’s an assortment of events on the calendar right now signifying the midway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. Imbolc (aka: the feast of Saint Brigid) coincides suspiciously with Groundhog Day. That’s no surprise as all this folklore originated in Northern Europe.

While Saint Valentines day is celebrated as a feast of love, it wasn’t the early Christians who originally came up with the idea. Also taking place in the northern hemisphere right now is the season of love, especially for groundhogs. Do you want to know who else is mating right now? Owls. They are hooting up a storm, flapping their wings, and overall being quite generally active. The skunks and foxes are at it, too. Foxes, especially make a tremulous noise when love is in the air. I checked on the fox den down in the hayfield. There was fresh scat all around the entrance, which means they’re awake. You can tell the difference between groundhog and fox homes because groundhogs keep underground potty chambers. When one gets full, they close it up and dig a fresh one.  

What I want to know, is how we went from feasting for a martyred priest to cards, gifts, and going out for a romantic dinner. One of my favorite restaurants has a sweethearts dinner on Valentine’s Day with an amazing menu. I wondered if it would be in poor taste to make a reservation, and then take what would have been my date’s dinner home in a takeout box. Fortunately, the dinner was sold out before I could decide.

The tulips are popping up two weeks early along with migrating ducks. Also poking out the first tendrils of green is the horseradish. Typically this arrives a few weeks ahead of Passover, however, due to the determination of that holiday based on the Hebrew calendar and lunar cycles, the horseradish is way ahead of schedule. Originally, Easter was supposed to come after Passover but this year it, too, is a few weeks ahead of Passover. Some things are early, others are late. At this point it’s kind of like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

But if you’re in the mood for a celebration, this weekend marks the lunisolar new year which the Chinese have been celebrating for 4000 years. Today the holiday is celebrated by most East Asians and is referred to as the Spring Festival. So I am going to cook up some dumplings, put on some red clothes, and set off some fireworks. Maybe that will wake up my ground hogs.

And if that doesn’t work, maybe everyone screaming at the television for the Super Bowl on Sunday will.