Happy groundhog day.
Or -- based on Punxsutawney Phil's prediction -- not-so-happy groundhog day.
I thought it would be appropriate to use today's blog post to learn about Phil's hometown of Punxsutawney. Located nearly four hours from York, somewhere between Altoona and Pittsburgh, this town's claim to fame is its weather-forecasting groundhog.
According to the official site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club: "Early observances of Phil's predictions were conducted privately in the wooded areas that neighbor the town. Today's celebration sees tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world as revelers await Phil's appearance."
Visitors descend on the town as early as 3 a.m. to enjoy live entertainment, fireworks and freezing temperatures while waiting for a rodent to crawl out and tell them if it will ever get warm again.
Once his duty at Gobbler's Knob (now a designated historic site, wouldn't-cha know) is through, Phil returns to the Groundhog Zoo inside the Punxsutawney Memorial Library in downtown Punxsutawney.
It's where he hangs out the 364 days of the year that nobody drags him into frigid weather to find out if more frigid weather is on the way. Fans looking for a glimpse of the famous rodent can see him anytime through a window from the outside.
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't like people gawking at me while I sleep. Especially not if we have six more weeks of winter.
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