It's Groundhog Day!

And yes, Phil has declared we'll have six more weeks of winter. To which we say: what winter?

Phil's part of an old tradition. While North American groundhogs hibernate for the winter (and thus, Phil excepted, would generally not be awake in February), this stems from a European tradition of the observing the weather and animal activity on Candlemas (February 2) to forecast an early or late spring. Candlemas, at which the medieval church blessed the candles for the year, is an observance in the Catholic tradition of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (as it's 40 days after Christmas). It also, not coincidentally, falls right next to the pagan feast of Imbolc, observing the swing in the calendar towards spring. In all cases, this is about getting more light and reassuring ourselves that we're getting there: spring will come again!

At nine am, here at the Lodge it is 35.6 degrees and rising.
We've got 81% humidity and steady.
The barometer is 29.27 inches of mercury and steady.

The Fire Danger remains LOW.