Commuting and Groundhogs

So I was thinking about Groundhog Day on my way home from work. I typically enjoy this holiday more than most. While I’d like to say it is due to a more intellectual or spiritual premise, like fascination in hibernating creatures ability to predict the arrival of springtime with their emergence, or perhaps the connection with Candlemas; really, it’s just that the holiday feels silly and arbitrary--and that speaks to me. Besides, groundhogs are semi-cute, and I love cute.

And there’s not the air of general anxiety around Groundhog Day that surrounds many of the other holidays. While I am certain that somewhere it causes someone to need Xanax, there are no awkward family visits, no presents to buy, vegetables or meat to carve, and no one cares if they have someone to kiss on Groundhog Day Eve at midnight (but then again, it’s always nice).

Groundhog Day, is however, a fine enough excuse to drink coffee, eat donuts and engage in some light office chatter regarding the circumstances of the weather for the next six weeks. Though, honestly, I’ll deem anything a good reason to have coffee and donuts, “Hey, I found some lint in my pocket, let’s party.” So maybe using me as a barometer for celebration is inappropriate knowing my craving for caffeine and ability to be easily amused.

What is interesting to me is that the celebration of Groundhog Day in the Americas is attributed to German settlers in Pennsylvania (okay...that part bores me, BUT... ) in Germany, it was not a groundhog who was the original prognosticator; it was the hedgehog. Yet in America, the groundhog was more prevalent, so he became a replacement. It saddens me a bit that the hedgehog was so easily thwarted. Why just settle for the creature of convenience? There is something humbly adorable about the hedgehog; nocturnal and snuffling, rolling into a tight ball to protect itself…losing spines when under stress. A little prickly and neurotic, but not an oppressor.

Groundhogs, on the other hand, can be boastful. They are mostly solitary and whistle when alarmed or when choosing a mate. They are known for aggression and rapid reproduction. On most occasions, I identify more with the hedgehog. (The moments where I am groundhogesque are not appropriate for discussion.)

And to top it off, Pennsylvania, where the hoax all started, is one of five states where owning a hedgehog is still illegal. So not only has the hedgehog been snubbed; he’s been banned. Though I can’t totally feel pity for the Hedgehog as an icon, considering Sonic beat out an Armadillo and a rabbit to become the video game protagonist and over-franchised spokeshog. But still, I can’t help wondering if with just a small twist of history and a little more initiative to honor tradition, if we would be waiting with our zoom lens to witness a small spiny shadow to signify the future…or perhaps just a prickly ball, leaving us to wonder if Spring is on its way, or it's up to us to interpret the signs of what's to come.