Rock Traveler™ Claudia and her trip to...The #1 Groundhog - Phil

Hi – I’m Claudia and have traveled far and wide, especially when quirky weird things seem interesting.  Along the way, as I’ve left my traveling call card my Rock This world family has grown and the stories people tell me from these places is so cool.  You have to join!  Here is the story about my trip to see Phil, the #1 Groundhog.

I stifled a yawn as I got out of the school bus, but my eyes excitedly scanned the growing crowd at Gobbler’s Knob.  I was actually here!   “It’s so cold,” my best friend and partner in adventure, Chrissie, commented as she followed.   She put her gloved hands in her pockets, trying to find extra warmth.  I nodded.  It was cold and early—about 5:30 a.m.   It was also still dark as night here in Punxsutawney (pronounced Punksatawnee), Pennsylvania but we were here to see Punxsutawney Phil—the world famous, weather-predicting groundhog!

Ever since I had come to Pennsylvania, I knew I had to come to Punxsutawney.  I have always loved myths and legends.  So of course, I had to check out one of the biggest legends in the U.S.   And I wasn’t the only one.  There were thousands of others here to see the exact same thing—whether Phil would give us six more weeks of winter or an early spring.  Chrissie and I had driven up yesterday and had explored the frozen town of Punxsutawney.   Up in the northern part of the state, near New York, the weather is cold and the snow-covered ground lies on top of a couple of inches of ice.  It is an older town as most towns on the East coast are, and there are lots of interesting old buildings to take pictures of, craft fairs to go to, ice carvings to see, and of course lots of merchandise to buy.

However, my interest was in Phil himself.  We had already seen him yesterday in his yearly home.  He had to be the fattest groundhog on earth!  According to the sign, he is 119 years old and is the only true weather forecasting groundhog.  The sign also said that he gets his longevity by drinking a special “groundhog punch” at the town’s annual summer picnic.   While the average groundhog weighs twelve to fifteen pounds, Phil weighs twenty!  He is also not the cutest animal.  His fur is short, course, and grayish looking with a reddish tint.  He has short ears, tail, and legs, and long buckteeth in the front.  From the size of Phil, I was amazed that he could move at all.

The history of the day was just as interesting.  Chrissie and I had learned that the celebration of Groundhog Day started from Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers.  They had brought the legend of Candlemas Day.  The legend states, “For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May.”  We also found out that Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800’s—the first trek to Gobbler’s Knob (where we are now) occurred on Feb 2, 1887.   Phil was named after King Phillip, but before he acquired his name, he was called Br’er Groundhog.  I redirected my thoughts and reflections to Gobbler’s Knob.  There were people everywhere!   As our bus had slowly driven up the frozen road, we could see the tent camps of those who had arrived the night before.  Now, Chrissie and I squirmed through the crowd to get as close as we could.  Phil wouldn’t appear until 7:30 a.m. 

During the two-hour wait in the bitter cold, we were entertained with fireworks and shows.  Someone had brought a giant red ball and the crowd was tossing it around. 

“What’s that?” Chrissie asked.   I turned to look in the direction she was pointing and there was a full guard of armed highway patrolmen carrying a large metal crate.  All around us, the audience became highly excited.  It was Phil, himself!

“Look at the guard,” I said to Chrissie. 

She nodded and I could tell she was as excited as I was.  I turned my attention back to the scene before us.  The highway patrol carried the heavy looking crate up to the podium where a large wood stump stood.  A group of men in tall hats and suits that were reminiscent of another time had walked out onto this platform.  One of the men took this huge squirrel looking rat animal out of his crate and placed him inside the stump. 

One of the other men then stepped forward and said “Hear Ye!  Hear Ye!  On this Groundhog Day, February 2nd, on Gobbler’s Knob, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil, King of the Groundhogs, Father of all Marmota, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, comes forth to give his weather prediction.”

He then tapped the stump three times with what looked like a hickory stick.  One of the men in the group came forward and withdrew the fat animal from his stump.  He held the groundhog high in the air so that the thousands of us standing there in the cold could get a good look at him.  He lowered the animal and set him on top of the stump. 

The man who spoke came forward and leaned down as if he were talking to Phil.  After a few moments, he straightened.  He gestured to another man who came forward with a scroll and read:

“Natural disasters have been a terrible thing; tsunamis,
downpours, floods, landslides, heavy snowstorms, avalanches,
frigid temperatures, sleet and freezing rain.
They all cause much destruction, suffering and pain.

When it seems like too much with which to cope;
the coming of spring brings us new hope.
Changing seasons is a wonderful thing.

Now it's Groundhog Day and we think of spring.
Will spring come early or will it come late?

It's time for me to prognosticate.
As I study the sun
it’s all about fun.
But I'm sorry to say
I see my shadow today.
When my shadow I see,
six more weeks of winter there will be!”

The groan of disappointment filtered through the crowd.  Even I had to admit that I was disappointed.  I had hoped to hear that an early spring was on its way.  I smiled as I had been caught under Phil’s spell.  When everyone turned away, I slipped one of my Rock Traveler™ Rocks onto the stump.  Maybe Phil will pick it up and email me, and tell me what he is thinking about 6 more weeks of winter!

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