Ground Hog Day!

To all my fellow North Americans (yes, yes Canadians that includes you too, now settle down) I wish to extend my fullest and most joyful HAPPY GROUND HOG DAY to you!

Ground Hod Day is an esteemed tradition of the Northwestern Hemisphere, when we boldly disregard all advances made in meteorology in the past couple centuries (believe me it's not that much anyway) and turn back to our roots. This means relying upon the animals and their innate supernatural forecasting capabilities to predict how much longer its gonna stay so frickin' freezing.

Curiously enough, this is yet another holiday that they just don't "get" over here in Korea. Just like Christmas or May Day or Fourth of July, for some reason the Koreans have failed to truly recognize the solemnity and significance of this occasion. They have yet to embrace this noble day of peace and reconciliation between man and rodent, when we can set aside our differences of the past, and strive to work together for the common good. And by "common good" I'm refering to the benefit of people only because, face it, save Punxsutaney Phil the little furry critters don't get much out of the deal.

We, however, have gained the secret instinctual knowledge posessed by the ground hogs who by some fluke of evolution were endowed with the power, on one particular day of the year, to predict the change of seasons based on a nervous ground-dwellers reaction to his shadow. I suspect it is in some way connected to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" but last time I checked, ground hogs couldn't read (and may I add God save us if they ever learn). They do however enjoy Bill Murray movies.

So what was I saying?...Ah yes! Why Koreans have yet to come and join in our annual rodent ritual I cannot say. But for all others who do observe this grand and glorious day, Happy Ground Hog Day!!