Today is a good day to ask: what is a groundhog and why does it have its own holiday in the in United States? First of all, a groundhog is small furry, four-legged rodent that makes its home in the ground.
Groundhogs don’t really have their own holiday in the United States, but they do have this special day on February 2nd every year. (This is a pretty crazy story, but I promise you it is true.) According to legend, on February 2nd, if the sky is cloudy when groundhogs comes out of their holes then the spring season will come early that year, but if the sky is sunny and a groundhog sees its shadow, it will get scared, and go back into the ground, and winter weather will continue for another six weeks. Depending on what type of weather you like (cold or warm) you may hope for groundhogs to see their shadows on this day or may hope they don’t.
Groundhog Day has become a fun celebration in the United States, usually with early morning festivities that involve watching a groundhog come out if its home in the ground. The largest Groundhog Day celebration in the United States is held in the town of Puxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where the local groundhog is named “Puxsutawney Phil.” There is even a popular movie from the 1990’s called Groundhog Day that is based on this holiday celebration in Puxsutawney, Pennsylvania. You can see a short clip from this movie below.
According to Groundhog Day celebration organizers, groundhogs makes accurate forecasts about spring/winter weather between 75-90% of the time! But the records in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, show that Punxsutawney Phil’s weather predictions have been correct only 39% of the time. Since most people don’t get their weather advice from ground-dwelling rodents, whether groundhogs make good weather forecasts or not is not really what this holiday is about. This is a day of fun that gets people looking forward to the coming spring season.
If you are interested in seeing Puxsutawney Phil and one of his past weather predictions take a look at the video clip below. It is pretty amazing and also a little crazy that this ‘holiday’ exists. Enjoy!
Hi there! I am one of Transparent Language's ESL bloggers. I am a 32-year-old native English speaker who was born and raised in the United States. I am living in Washington, DC now, but I have lived all over the US and also spent many years living and working abroad.
I started teaching English as a second language in 2005 after completing a Master's in Applied Linguists and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults' (CELTA). Since that time I have taught ESL in the United States at the community college and university level. I have also gone on to pursue my doctorate in psychology and now I also teach courses in psychology.
I like to stay connected to ESL learners around the world through Transparent Languages ESL Blog. Please ask questions and leave comments on the blog and I will be sure to answer them.
