February has always sort of confused me and not just because of the way it's spelled. On the one hand, we celebrate Valentine's Day which is an all out, over-the-top, mushfest of sentimentality and affection. For women it is a day of hopeful anticipation that they will receive a token of admiration from that special someone. For men it means a mad dash to the grocery store the night before to find that the only thing left is a broken chocolate cupid and some road flares. Nothing says you care like emergency preparedness and a naked, one armed greek god.
It is generally a time to show that we care enough about our most cherished relationships to take at least a little extra thought and do something out of the ordinary. In essence it is a time of either renewing old bonds or giving fresh new life to a budding relationship. Sort of like Spring.
This brings me to the confusing part of February. Before we get to all this lovey, dovey, "Spring is in the air", celebration, we must first find out if Spring is indeed in the air. And who is the wise sage that brings us tidings of the changing seasons? Wrong, it's not Al Gore. We have a much more trustworthy source in the form of a rodent. Yep, Groundhogs day. This furry little critter comes out of his warm home just long enough to give us the weather forecast and then he's done for another year. Must be a rough life.
See there's no problem if he pops his head out and proclaims - yup, it's Spring, let the good times roll! In that case it is perfectly appropriate to celebrate Valentine's Day two weeks later. But what if he comes out and says - sorry, six more weeks - shouldn't we postpone the festivities until mid March? That way it would coincide nicely with St. Patrick's Day and all of those red and green Christmas decorations that are still up in the yard won't seem quite so out of place. But no, instead of a Top o' the Mornin' Valentine's Day, we go on undeterred and celebrate Valentine's Day in the dead of winter.
So here's my question, why do we even bother the groundhog? We aren't going to change our plans anyway, we should just leave him alone. It's like asking for directions when you are lost and then continuing to wander aimlessly.
As usual, I'm probably the only person in the world who is worried about this, so I should probably just let it go. You can't really expect logic from a culture who insists on randomly changing their clocks twice a year in the name of saving daylight. It seems that the last four hundred years of increased knowledge about our solar system would make it clear that the sun doesn't stay up longer just because we adjust our clocks. It's enough to make Copernicus roll over in his grave!
Well, at least I know what my plans are for next Saturday night. Fortunately I live in a place where there is no winter so none of this really matters in the slightest. As for those of you who are still entrenched in the snowy depths of winter; at least you can warm your hearts with a store bought sign of your undying affection. Awe, isn't that sweet?
5 comments:
Yep- I think you are the only person worried about this.
We bother the groundhog out of tradition. Same reason we bring a dead tree into our house at Christmas, give candy to beggars at Halloween, and light explosives on the 4th of July. TRADITION!!
And yeah... that's my deleted comment. I can't spell too good.
Living in the "snowy depths of winter" and at this point am feeling a little desperate to see some sign of spring - I propose that the little overgrown rat be brought out of his home under the shade of something else so there is NO WAY he sees his shadow! Problem solved! And it probably won't matter when Valentine's Day is, the night before will always be the big shopping day for it!!! :o)
Post a Comment