I Love Groundhog Day and You Should Too!
My groundhog puppet, Murray, and I getting our picture taken with Punxsutawney Phil in 2016.
When I tell people that my favorite holiday is Groundhog Day, I am usually met with immediate laughter and then a mountain of questions. “Are you serious?” or “You’re joking right?” or maybe a stern but simple “Really?” Well, I am here to tell you, with all sincerity, that I love Groundhog Day and that love only grows every year.
So, you’re probably asking the same question that everyone inevitably gets to: why? Even I will admit it is an odd choice. When presented with the question of favorite holiday, most people would say something along the lines of Halloween or Christmas. For most of my life, I would often sway between these two choices myself. (Although, if you were to ask me; Easter always had the best types of candy). However, in 2016 I met a groundhog that changed my life.
Everything changed that February. For some long-forgotten reason, I had decided that I was going to travel to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to experience Groundhog Day in person. Little did I know, how truly amazing and life changing that day would be. To quote Bill Murray’s character, Phil Connors, from the movie Groundhog Day:
“…standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.”
The town of Punxsutawney makes you believe that this day is more than just a silly holiday. It’s a day filled with hope. Hope that no matter the results of this day, we are all in this together, for better or worse, and that everything will, indeed, be okay.
My changing thoughts on Groundhog Day began to shift on that first, but not last, trip to Punxsutawney. I saw a shirt that said, “Groundhog Day: America’s Second Favorite Holiday.” I remember laughing at it, but unbeknownst to me, the wheels of change had already begun to turn. I had decided haphazardly in that moment to adopt it as my second favorite holiday. However, as the hours, days and weeks would pass, I began to realize that this holiday would not be content sitting at second place in my heart. Weeks later, as the dampness of April’s flooding receded revealing May’s floral landscape, I scared myself a little, as I uttered for the first time: “I think my favorite holiday is Groundhog Day.”
Murray and I discuss the weather before embarking on a snowy Groundhog Day hike in 2021.
Groundhog Day is my favorite holiday because it’s the one of the only holidays in the year with no expectations. Now, if this sounds confusing, please allow me to elaborate. In my opinion, holidays such as a Halloween, Christmas, or Independence Day all have the weight of expectation. What costume am I going to wear? Did I get the right gift? Where am I going to see fireworks? Where am I going to park? Am I really going to do this alone? Do I want to see people? The questions and responsibilities on these dates are never ending. We are constantly searching, nay, yearning to achieve the expectations that have been deemed acceptable in our celebrations; that we always, inescapably, fall short and are left with an undeserved form of disappointment.
The pressure to create a perfect holiday is even greater if you find yourself hosting one of these celebrations. For example, for the past several years, I have hosted Christmas for my family. Now, I love my family; but ensuring that everything is as good as it can be is a draining job. It involves careful planning, weeks of preparation, and days of cooking to make a memory for others. I don’t mind doing it, but it is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting.
Perhaps you can relate? Maybe you host an annual Halloween party that your professional community looks towards every year? Maybe it’s the annual neighborhood Independence Day celebration and you just found out that no one brought the potato salad? Or perhaps, it’s Valentine's Day and you forgot to make reservations. Stress. Stress. Stress. And don’t even get me started on birthdays! Wouldn’t it be nice to have a holiday where you weren’t in control? Where nothing you did or didn’t do had no overall impact on the outcome of the day? Sounds nice, right? Welcome to Groundhog Day.
On Groundhog Day, the only creature with responsibilities is a furry, small quadruped known as (you guessed it) the groundhog. On this day, we look to the prognosticator of prognosticators, Punxsutawney Phil for his foresight into the future. Early in the morning, Phil emerges from his burrow in Gobbler’s Knob; surrounded by thousands of his adoring fans and discerns what weather awaits the coming weeks. Will it be shadow or no shadow? An early Spring or six more weeks of winter? With the assistance of the Inner Circle, Phil’s prediction is read for all to hear. And that’s it!
Well, that’s not all, but for the most part, the heart of the holiday has no outside societal pressures or expectations. Groundhog Day is whatever you make it. You can choose how much you want to do or not do on that day. Me? I try to make it a day of unabashed fun. I might drive around with a groundhog puppet in my lap waving to other motorists. I might go on a hike with a groundhog and observe the cold winter landscape knowing that it is only a matter of time till Spring returns. I might even drive to a small town an hour east of Pittsburgh, spend all night out in the cold surrounded by thousands of other people to have fun, dance and watch a groundhog predict the weather.
Will it be an early Spring? Will it be six more weeks of Winter? In the end, it doesn’t matter. All that matters, is you find something that makes you happy, that makes you smile, and celebrate it.
Happy Groundhog Day…oh, and please; don’t drive angry!
