Punxsutawney Phil

Groundhog's Day always puzzled me.  What's it all for?  What's with the little beast? Why him and not some other groundhog in another state?  These are the questions that filled my childhood brain.

I grew up.  I became slightly pagan. I discovered that Groundhog's Day just happens to be the exact halfway point between Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox.  It is, in fact, halfway through winter, six more weeks until the First Day of Spring, March 20.  It is, in some circles, the day you burn your Christmas tree and let go of your regrets. It is in other circles a day called  "Candelmas."  In France, they call it Chandeleur.  I call it Crepe Day. 

February 2--it's sooner than you think!--is Groundhog's Day, Chandeleur, Imbolc,  Candelmas.  Such a loaded day for Punxsutawney Phil.  He has the lore and traditions of several cultures and religions riding on his little furry back. 

And it's my Crepe Day.  The French flip crepes with a coin held in their hand.  There's something about good luck in there.  We create a stack of sweet crepes for dessert.  We clear dinner and set out jams, sugar and cinnamon, Nutella, chantilly cream.  And then we watch as our pile reduces to a few left for each person, and suddenly, it's:  "Who wants the last one?"

The seasons turn, and we roll right along.  Life is passing us by!  We get busy working, driving, wondering what to make for dinner, and how to find time to read a book that doesn't have pictures.  We pass each other at a run.  It's days like February 2nd that allow us to stop and smell...the crepes.  Life is passing us by!  Stop!  Make some crepes.  Let them ask why.  Spend the night explaining our ancestral worship of the sun, the seasons, the light, the stars, the planets.  Take an evening to contemplate our small place in this universe.  I promise this conversation will last through dessert...