Groundhog Day

I thought it would never be February. And yet here it is. Somewhere in this country, many places in fact, crabby, anxious little biting furry animals are being dragged from their warm holes to see if they cast a shadow. This happens most notably in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where Punxsutawney Phil is hauled unceremoniously from his den while being filmed for everyone to watch. Of course the original Punxsutawney Phil perished many years ago and we are, I believe, on our 31st groundhog with that same name. Males and females.

I don't know if they cast a shadow it means 6 more weeks of winter, or if they don't cast a shadow it means 6 more weeks of winter. But either way, I can tell you from experience, at the first week in February, we will certainly have at least six more weeks of winter. This is not rocket science. This is calendar reading.  Similar to what doctors do when they give you a "due date" for a baby. They say, "When do you think you think you last had sex?" Then they get out a calendar and count to 40 and hey, presto, you have a due date. This part does not take four years of medical school.

We do not have a ground hog. We have Phil. Here he is. Isn't he glorious?

Phil the Pheasant comes every day to our bird feeders now. Here he is by the rocks near the driveway, cautiously picking his way to the feeders. He stays for an hour or more and gorges his way to health and happiness. The one day I didn't realize he was there, I let Cricket out and she ran faster than I believed possible for a girl of her size. Phil can't take off suddenly like smaller birds, so he ran like  Roadrunner for a few wild steps, leaving a beautiful tail feather-shaped pattern in the snow before he got airborne.

Have I put in a picture of our house yet? I don't think so. Here is what it looks like this time of year. In the front you can see the small tree close to the house. This is where all the bird feeders are. Where Phil eats every day.

Ah, my 140 year old house. It looks so innocent here, doesn't it? All dusted with powdered sugar snow, the flag floating in a light wind, surrounded by maple trees hundreds of years old. Trust me, the house is not so innocent. She harbors all manner of tricks. Critters such as Phil are wonderful outside. But when they come inside it's different. I still won't go down in the basement. Two months ago, Don shot a snake down there. With a BB gun of all things! (Don had the BB gun, not the snake, but these days you never know.) Afterwards he had to DEAL with the thing. Dear God. So can you blame me? If spring ever comes, we are going to go all around outside the house plugging holes where the mice get in. Because this is how it starts. First the mice, then.... 

But as I say, spring is at least six weeks off.  No matter if you have a ground hog or a pheasant.