Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his hovel Wednesday and saw his shadow, which -- according to tradition -- means that spring will come early this year.
Phil, whose first name comes from the Pennsylvania town where he lives, emerged at 7:20 a.m. and hung out with the well-dressed gentlemen presiding over the event without retreating inside.
Tuesday's Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney marked the town's 125 celebration of the annual event.
I have also added a picture taken from my balcony this morning.
85 comments:
Most of the trains were running in the city today, but in order to get to the train I had to walk down the street since there were like 3 foot drifts on the sidewalks that hadn't been cleared.
I went out to the grocery store last night around 10 just to drive around in it and to check things out and it was pretty bad....
I can't remember the last time the Prognosticator said it would be an early spring.
I got to say I would take a Cleveland winter anytime. Hovers between 25-35 most of the time. No wind. A damp cold but not bad. The locals say it has been a bad winter. They have no idea.
Tom
Kids could dress up as a bible character today for Catholic Schools Week and Jude went as David. Unfortunately or fortunately, we didn't have a sling shot to go with his outfit.
I'd take a Cleveland winter too.
And I think I have strep throat.
Got up this morning @ 4:00 left @4:30 to take Mely to the airport got to the airport around 6:00.(normaly a 30 min drive) I got the closest parking spot next to her gate.(Lucky) I have not flowen in years apparently you check yourself in. I was screwing that all up, finally a a check in lady helped me. Got home and checked Mey's flight it showed that she was on the runway ready to take off 1 min late. Checked her flight 5 mins later and it said it would land 30 minutes late. Origanlly she had an hour to get to her connecting gate which is two terminals away. In Dallas that means a train ride. So here I am paceing the floor at home,she can't call because she left her phone behind. (It won't work in Mexico) But I got that call 10 mintues before her connection left. Apparently airports still have pay phones. She was at her gate and made the plane. She is in the air and will be in Tapachula at 3:30.(2hour lay over in Mexico City) She return March 2nd. (This month is really gonna suck) Road are nothing but ice. Missed work yesterday because of weather. They told me not to come in, first time in my working life. Normally they make us come in like a lineman for the power company. Desmond I wish I could write as elaquantly as you. (Let alone learn how to spell.)
I don't think it's nice to call Phil's place a hovel. Yay for early spring.
OK, I'm going to order my heirloom tomato plants online today. And my Silvery Fir Tree tomato seeds and Fin de Bagnol french green bean seeds and Mascara red lettuce and mesclun mix seeds and African trailing nasturtium seeds and dinosaur-looking Italian broccoli seeds too.
Pete, I hope Mely has a good trip and a good month with her mom. You sound lonesome. Maybe you could take up woodworking or something.
That was well written Pete...I got nervous for Mely. It's sweet she's coming back on your birthday!
I hope Mely has a great trip!
The snow storm had a lot of wind, leaving an Elvis type updo/drift on our front walkway and at the end of our driveway and into the street.
The BUMPASES! across the street park in the street when it snows so that they don't have to shovel their cars out of the driveway. As a result, the snow plow has to make an arc around them. That in turn means that today I was shoveling about 5 feet out into the street in order to get my car out of the driveway. I wanted to bury their cars. They have 3 adults and 3 teenage kids in that house.
lisa
Have a great early spring for your birthday, Sam!
lisa
Hey! Copy and paste this link. It's a Volkswagen commercial that reminds me a whole lot of what grandpa (dad) did with the grandkids and his keychain trunk opener. Funny stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0
Also, if you want to see a photographic journey the our great journey from california, go here;
http://desmondlavelle.posterous.com/
Des, cute commercial! Made me laugh.
Monica
Hey look!
http://algona.com/articles/2011/02/03/news/top_news/doc4d49d3f8d2fbf814183663.txt
p
Pat,
I tried to get to this but the Algona Upper Des Moines says it can't be found. What is it?
Monica
Ed, did you have any trouble getting home last night?
Found it.
It's the LaVelles. Just go to Algona.com
p
Nice article! Pat, how did you know?
So, "The Day the Music Died" (to the right) is a big deal every year in Clear Lake...people come from all over the world for 3-4 days of festivities. Also, in the summer many many people trek across the corn field to the Buddy Holly shrine...my friend who moved here from Louisiana can't believe I've never made the trek. Whenever any of her friends or family come up they march across the corn field!
If they do it today, they're gonna be cold!
I was doing some snow shoveling while the snow was blowing around and when I came in I had frozen dreadlocks. I was afraid to bend them until they thawed.
Des - if you had mentioned me in your book your sales would have doubled.
And by the way, a very minor correction: You guys didn't move from Emmetsburg in the fall. I distinctly remember helping with the move. Your Dad had an old Ford van. We loaded that thing, in the dark, during a winter ground blizzard. No heat in the vehicle. I was maybe 12-ish. My toes were soooooo cold. That was the coldest I ever remember being.
Not criticizing the book. It is a fun read. Well done.
Tom
Thanks Tom! We could not have made that move without you, seriously! We had hired someone to clear the lane ($20) and a few hours later when we started the move, the lane had blown shut, so we loded a van from the house to the drift and then Tom and others unloded and carried over the drift and onto a truck, pretty much during a blizzard!!!
which pregame commercial did des do?
loaded and unloaded.
besides the poll, we need some predictions with names. Points and a little explanation. Who wins the Super Duper Bowl Thingy?
I predict I will have half a buzz by the end of the first.
Also, Rodgers throws for 300 plus.
Mendenhall runs for 85 or less.
AJ Hawk piles on at least 4 tackles.
The announcers mention how spiritual Palamalu is at least 4 times.
Bulaga does not get mentioned once. Means he gets no penelties but his work will be overlooked.
Matthew's "pedigree" is mentioned 3 times.
Packers win 24-16. Steelers get final possesion but Packer defense holds.
Obama will call locker room to get pimped on.
Tom
I predict that we will blitz with some fried chicken or tacos and a pizza and/or scramble up some chili from our freezer and make some biscuits (took me three tries to spell it right) At halftime we will make adjustments and add popcorn, wings or chips and salsa. If I want to really pile it on I might try a trick Velveeta n cheese or delicious Hamburger Helper. Not Panburger Partner. Hamburger Helper is the real deal. Obama or Biden will send me an email. We have chosen to go with the Packers on account of Rothlesburger's sparkling personality but don't really care. The burning question in my mind is, who will have the best commercial?
Desmond's commercial is pre-game, I'll get the exact time...it's for Docker's.
Neither team has cheerleaders aka pole dancers, so that's cool. I read that Green Bay uses the cheerleaders from St. Norbert's college and U.Wisc.-Green Bay cheerleaders, but only for home games.
Don't forget, exercise contestants, that today ends another week of tallying.
P
So I ask for predictions for the Super Duper Bowl and I get the a listing of the buffet spread soon to be sliding down well-muscled throats? Jeez.
Stullers. 31 to 24. Though I want GB to win.
p
So if a guy who sells mulit million dollar meat contracts has a first name of Joey and a last name Mancini calls you up and says, "Hey Tommy. I found some money on the floor. I'm going to come see you!" would one expect to get propositioned?
I've never played that game but I can kind of see this one coming.
This guy is straight out of Good Fellas. I love meeting movie characters in real life. Be it Hill Billys, Good Fellas, wise cracking Jews or what not.
I seperated is first and last name so an internet search would not pull this post up first. Hopefully buried on page 10.
Tom
Be careful, Tom. Remember the horse's head in that guy's bed.
Dad
Hay, tommy. Keep your clothes on.
so Des has a pre-game ad for Dockers?
Green Bay wins, 31-21
Pitt 27
GB 24
Pitt runs out to an early lead as they rattle Rodgers early. At least one pick and several sacks. Way too much time spent talking about hits to the head (although Rodgers will be hearing a ringing in his noggin). Something like 27-10 middle of the 3rd Qtr. GB comes racing back but it will be too little too late.
In addition to Rodgers, my concern is whether Pitt's back up center can handle the 380 lb NG of GB. If Pitt can't run or they are able to push the center back into Roethlisbergers face, it couild be a long day.
We were going to have brats, but just seemed to be too Wisconsinish. Swithched to It Sausage sandwiches.
And Iron City beer? And Heinz ketchup? Perhaps a Klondike bar?
p
A Straub beer would be perfect, but don't have any. Can't do ketchup on It Sausage. Don't get the Klondike reference.
We do have some cockatil shrimp so maybe Heinz makes a cocktail sauce.
Here you can work on your vocabulary before the game:
http://www.pittsburghese.com/glossary.ep.html?type=nouns
p
Mary Ellan told me she thinks Desi's commercial will be on some time between 4 and 5 pm midwest time. Bill O'Reilly willl be interviewing Obama from 4:45 to 5:00 pm Eastern time on Fox. Dad
Apparently Desy's commercial comes on at 4:08 central time.
P
I love this language. The speaker bought a Superbowl ticket and then wasn't allowed in (with many others) because the seats were deemed unsafe:
Gerry Grillo, from New Jersey, said he paid $3,000 for a ticket with a face value of $600, so he's among those who lost money.
"Now they're saying it's (in an) invalid section ... saying give us three times the face value and go pound salt," Grillo said.
Well, I'm gonna throw it out there: I loved the halftime show. Let the insults begin.
(although it would have been even more of a spectacle if Usher had been unable to release himself from his harness.)
Funny you should say. I was going to get on here after half time to say, "Worst Half Time Show EVER!"
Tom
I predict the Packers will get off to a hot start due to Steeler turnovers, then hold on for a hard fought 31-26 win. The game will be in doubt right to the end.
I agree wit youse guys.
Well - the Packers proved that you don't need to run the ball in order to win the Superbowl!
I was actually looking forward to the halftime show but was severly disappointed. For one thing the audio was horrible (especially at the beginning). It got better towards the end, but at no point was it good to watch. I don't think those guys were actually playing those trumpets either.
I think they just need to stick to the tried and true. I say AC/DC for the next one!
I'd prefer Guy Lombardo or Lawrence Welk. Dad
I made white chicken chili. THe girls loved it which means it didn'lt really fit the super bowl food group. We spent the evening cleaning and I missed most of the co mmercials. I hope t odo better next year.
lisa
Seriously. It's the Super Bowl. Not only is "over the top" called for, it's required. From the overhyped interview to the Michael Douglas patriotic thingy to the irritatingly oversung (too many notes) national anthem, overdoing it to death is the only way to go. You need a good loud band with costumes and poppy rocky familiar music that everyone can dance to and a couple good old-guy dropins (yes, Slash is now an old guy) and one message song before the close. I did think the sound glitches were inexcusable and the ending was weak but it was pure Super Bowl. Stevo doesn't agree with me, by the way. Guy Lombardo or Lawrence Welk? No, but maybe Benny Goodman at his hottest.
I disagree completely. I like the Black Eyed Peas but thier brand of music is overly produced in the studio and just doesn't do well live. You can do over the top well or poorly. This was all done very poorly.
The pregame was just as bad. Maroon 5 as the band to get you pumped for some smash mouth football? Gimme a break. Might as well have been Beiber or Helen Reddy.
And the cut away to see what the guys on the set were having for lunch? A 3 minute infomercial for Pizza Hut. BS I say.
Next year no pregame for me and I will tune in a radio feed of the game. The announcers did not name an o lineman for the packers once during the game other then Bulaga when Woodley almost beat him. That was THE ONLY mention I recall.
The whole spectacle was pathetic.
Tom
In the early '80s Up With People was the half time show.
My how much has changed.
P
It would be interesting to watch the process of getting a half time act. On the one hand, you have the biggest audience ever, but on the other hand there's potentially a lot to lose if it's a dud, from the talent's point of view.
By the way, I watched Glee for the first time. I like it. It's a high school fairy tale with big song-and-dance numbers. There's also a new cop show coming with the absurd premise that Chicago politics and administration may not always be completely above board.
Oh - our Kitty died this morning. 20 years as queen of the front porch - not a bad life. Stevo is at home right now trying to make a hole in the back yard with a pick axe.
I liked the halftime show even though the audio was bad. I like Glee.
Poor Kitty. I was thinking about her the other day b/c Pablo is getting old and Kitty is the oldest cat I've known. Too bad she didn't stick aorund for one more spring, but you're right- not a bad life. Pablo has started, for the first time EVER, to sometimes not use the litter box. It's only when the litter box isn't really clean and when he has to go #2. Then he poops right next to the litter box which is on the concrete basement floor so it doesn't bother me too much and it makes me clean the litter box more regularly.
Pablo might be mad. Maybe wanted more ink in the book.
Sad about little Kitty. I mean, that's a long kitty life but nonetheless.
P
Now what? It's a long time till March Madness.
Tom
9-3-11
ND vs South Florida
IowaState vs UNI
Iowa vs Tenn Tech
She was one tough cat. I can remember her fending off a flock of dive-bombing blue birds after she had managed to catch one. With no claws.
By the way, Kitty passed away the same day that "13 Cats LaVelle" arrived at my house in the mail. Thanks, LaVelles.
I love Stevo. He told me in detail how he curled Kitty up to bury her and wrapped her tail over her eyes so dirt wouldn't get in them.
Just to put things in perspective: my friend Joan Berner's husband died yesterday morning after a short intense battle with cancer. He was just diagnosed three weeks ago. She told me this past weekend was very painful for him so it's good he's at peace finally. So sad.
Brave Kitty...always protecting the front porch. Especially so when the black squirrels went loco with Spring Fever!
Cathy, is that the Joan who used to work with you?
FYI...cousins Diane and Catherine Sender and 2 of their girlfriends won $10,000. in a Super Bowl pool...each get $2,500.
I asked if they could name one of the players and Catherine replied "Troy Aikman" and Diane said "don't they have fine names now?"...Congrats to them!
Yes, that is Joan who still works with me - she did Joe and Brianne's marriage prep.
Hey, everyone, I just want to let you know that Randy took Lisa to the hospital with severe pain in her neck and down both arms and tightness in her chest. She's been given morphine and is waiting for an EKG and a stress test (she said if it takes 20 minutes she's going to count it as her exercise for today) The morphine has helped with the pain and she seems to think it's going to end up not being serious but it wouldn't hurt to say a prayer.
Oh no! I hope everything's ok, Lisa!
p
Oh no is right. I was just going to complain about the cold. Keep us updated.
Lisa just called me and no heart damage has showed up on any of her tests and the pain has gone away except how you can feel where a muscle or nerve was hurting but it doesn't hurt now. She's waiting to be released and/or talk to a doc or whatever has to be done so she can go home.
A stress test after morphine is odd, according to Kelli.
Very glad to hear she's going home.
Lisa, are you doing better? We sure hope so.
Tom
Read about ZENO (to the right) better than any soap opera...talk about dysfuntional families! One of his opponents was Theodoric Strabo, an Ostrogoth-Germanic...maybe an early Straub?
So, any news on what Lisa's pain was caused by?
Hi.
I'm ok.
Don'lt know what it was.
I see an internist next week.
I am happy to use this as an excuse to partake in excessive napping.
lisa
God bless you, Lisa...we're so glad you are a-ok! :-)
Boy, ND basketball sure is doing well.
yeah they're gooder than they were last year
I watched them destroy DePaul last week. They looked really gooder!
But then again, DePaul hasn't won one Big East game this year. Big East is tough. Did you see St. John's killed UConn last night?
Tom was in town last night (well actually in the suburbs) so I met him for dinner by his hotel. He was inspecting a meat processing plant. Was good seeing him!
We ate at a chain resturant called "Cheddar's" which I found to be dull and completely devoid of any soul, but the food was cheap and decent.
I thought Cheddars was okay. The prices were cheap. I had a chicken pot pie for like $6 and a caesar salad for $1.99. The beer was cold and market priced.
But Ed was right. An unremarkable restaurant.
I tried to rope Des into coming out too. But my plans to visit were last minute and his plans were set for the night. Oh well...next time.
Tom
Never do chains, except TA of course! The menu at TA mentions Chef Tom Straub and his desire to offer a healthy menu. Mike and Des picked it up on their travels...pretty cool!
Some friends here invited me to go with them to Mason City to eat at Carlos O'Kelly's...I would rather eat my own puke..it's the worst chain ever. (I didn't go)
I wondered why would you drive 45 miles to eat there? People here are also think Applebee's and Olive Garden are great.
I can see driving to Mason City to eat, but try something unique.
We have the best fast Chinese I've ever had anywhere...not comparing it to fancy Chinese...but Sum Hing is good.
I just swallowed a little puke reading about you eating your own puke.
P
Don't forget to post your exercise!
I'm learning alot from Curly and Gilligan...they eat their own puke, but I guess they don't talk about it.
Is this some new form of bulemia brought about by the pressure to exercise?
Check out this YouTube video. It's a QB from UConn making a bunch of trick throws. He's their back up QB but the throws are pretty impressive. Fun to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0WMd0Y6hIw&feature=player_embedded
Tom
Post a Comment