Did you hear? Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, which means six more weeks of winter.
York County’s groundhogs — York’s Poor Richard, Dover Doug and Mount Wolf’s Susquehanna Sherman — were all more daring. They all predicted an early spring. See our local story and video here.
I grew up in western Pennsylvania, hearing about Phil. One year I decided to make the trek to Punxsutawney to see what all the fuss was about.
I drove from my parents’ house in Johnstown to Punxsutawney. And I drove. And I drove. It was only about 60 miles away but it seemed to take hours to get there.
I finally arrived at the destination, a shopping center parking lot. That’s where you catch a bus that takes you to Gobbler’s Knob, which is in the woods.
And, once you get there, you have to find a good spot amongst thousands of people to to see the furry prognosticator. It’s really dark and cold. People are loud.
It’s over in a blink.
In my slightly younger days, I was a fan of such big events. New Year’s Eve in Times square, Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, the Olympics in Atlanta. I was there. With the crowds. Packed in. Cold. (Hot at the Olympics). I’m glad I went. But, I doubt I’ll repeat any of those experiences.
How about you, readers. Have you battled huge crowds to attend a “big event”? Was it worth it?
