happy groundhog day

the groundhog has spoken – this year it will be an early spring.

don’t drive angry.

happy groundhog day!

happy groundhog day!  this has certainly been a strange winter in Michigan – one of the warmer winters in my recent memory, and a very small amount of total snowfall so far.  it’s been above 50 degrees F several times in January, and this week will have several days in the low 40′s.  there have been a couple days of bright sunshine, too, which has been great.  we did have one snowfall of maybe 2 or 3 inches about 2 weeks ago – I took the boys sledding for a little bit that weekend.  it’s been pretty much the only chance we’ve really had all winter!

I posted this clip a couple years back, but I really like it – Bill Murray gives the weather report from the movie Groundhog Day.

we shall see what the the groundhog predicts tomorrow morning!

what if there is no tomorrow?

just to set the stage:

• several co-workers had doctor or dentist appointments canceled as early as Monday, just in preparation of the predicted storm Tuesday night and Wednesday.
• the voice mail on our home phone when I got home this afternoon said that school is already canceled for my 2 older boys tomorrow.
• my wife’s work sent an email out this morning – encouraging manager’s to let employees leave work early today, and work from home tomorrow if necessary.
• my work sent an email this afternoon – the office will be closed tomorrow… so stay home, stay warm, and enjoy the snow… that is…unless you have work to get done.

and yup, that’d be me.  go figure that I get an official, yet rare “snow day” from work, but instead of being able to relax and enjoy it, I will be hunched over the laptop all of tomorrow, cranking out calculations for a big deadline this week.

granted – if it’s as bad as predicted, I don’t know that I would be able to drive the boys to the good sledding hill nearby anyway. and I’m sure I’ll manage to squeeze in a few hours of playing in the mounds of snow with all 3 boys.  but I’ll be working a bunch, too.  oh well – extra work is better than no work, so in that regard – I’m blessed.

in regards to the storm – the “Groundhog Storm”, as some are calling it… maybe it’s just me, but I find it highly ironic that a massive snowstorm is going to hit Michigan in just a few hours (and has probably already started over a large part of the Midwest), and we will be snowed in on Groundhog Day.  if you recall, a giant blizzard is what kept Phil Connors stuck in Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania, in the never-ending loop of Groundhog Days.  as Phil Connors (Bill Murray) says:

What if there is no tomorrow…. there wasn’t one today?!

in honor of the impending Thundersnow swooping across the Midwest and the Northeast, here is the weather report from that great movie – “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray:

there are so many good quotes from that movie – and Bill Murray is fantastic.  and, after all – he is my sailing inspiration!

6 weeks of winter

well, it’s Groundhog’s Day, and the fat little vermin Punxsutawney Phil has spoken:

• six more weeks of winter.
• six more weeks of cold snowy weather.
• six more weeks until I can go sailing.

my only consolation on a day like this: it brings back memories of Bill Murray (a favorite – after all, he is my sailing inspiration, remember?), in the movie named for today: Groundhog Day (link to wiki). see the wiki link for the basic plot, if you haven’t seen the movie (and if you haven’t… you should!).