I have a very serious question, and I hope someone out there can answer it for me. In the history of Groundhog Day, has there ever been a year that the groundhog did not see its shadow and spring suddenly ensued?

I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. It seems obvious that after Groundhog Day, we should expect six more weeks of winter, but for some reason, someone decided to invent a holiday to get our hopes up, make us think there’s a possibility that spring is right around the corner and let the whole thing hinge on a furry little animal so no one can be angry about it.

Who decided that a groundhog should predict future weather patterns, and who decided that Punxsutawney Phil was the right groundhog for the job? It’s not like the groundhog has any special skills or abilities in meteorology. Predicting six more weeks of winter isn’t even that impressive. Now if the groundhog could pop his head out and magically predict windfall, barometric pressure and temperature using only its shadow as a gauge, then maybe I would be impressed.