Groundhog Day: Another Custom With a Lost Beginning

Being curious about where the Groundhog Day custom started and having lots of extra time on my hands I decided to look it up on wikipedia. As with most of our customs, Groundhog Day has several theories on how it came to be but none are really stated as the one. Whatever the beginning is, it is pretty sad that we need an oversized rat to give us some hope that winter is ending even though these predictions are even less accurate than the ones professional forecasters give us. Winter has about six more weeks left to it regardless of what Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willie, or any of their other furry counterparts have to say…or should I say what the officials at these various locations have to say.