Punxsutawney, PA; where rodents forecast the weather

Punxsutawney, PA; where rodents forecast the weather

By Tom Secrest

Pennsylvania is well known for three cites; Philadelphia, which is on the far south-eastern side of the state; Pittsburgh, which is, more or less, in the south-western part of the state and Punxsutawney. In case you’re interested, none of these cities are the capital of the state – that would be Harrisburg, which is in the south-central part of the state. Unlike most states, where the state borders appear to have been drawn by blind and drunk bureaucrats, Pennsylvania’s borders appear to have been drawn by 3 engineers (north, south and west) while the east border was drawn by a blind and drunk bureaucrat.

However, Pennsylvania sits in a very congested area of the U.S. and was the 2nd of the original 13 colonies. It shares its eastern border with Delaware, the 1st colony, New Jersey, the 3rd colony, and New York, the 10th colony. Why 3 out of 4 borders are as straight as an arrow, is perhaps still a mystery.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are fairly large U.S. cities, with Philadelphia being number 6 (population 1,447,395) and Pittsburgh being number 60 (population 310,037) and coming just after New Orleans at number 59; although these rankings are pre-hurricane Katrina, Pittsburgh may have moved up since then. Punxsutawney on the other hand has a population of 6,271, which means its ranking relative to other towns and cites is probably unknown. For Philadelphia, there is the Liberty Bell, for Pittsburgh, there’s – there’s – okay I’m not sure there is anything special about Pittsburgh. Oh I almost forget, it is the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers Football team; the only team to win the Super Bowl 6 times; I new there had to be something special about Pittsburgh. As for Punxsutawney, pronounced “puhngh-suh-taw-nee,” its claim to fame can be seen in the picture. You might be thinking, who is that man, why is he dressed that way, and why is he holding a big fat rat? However, it is, in fact, the fat Sciuridae that is famous, not the man holding it; so you should be thinking who is that big fat rodent and why is that oddly-dressed man holding him? The man is, no doubt, the distinguished and honorable Mayor of Punxsutawney and the fat rodent is Punxsutawney Phil, the furry weather forecasting beast that each year, on February the 2nd, better known as Groundhog day, forecast whether winter will end early or will continue for an additional 6 weeks.

The story goes something like this; starting back in 1886, when the tradition, at least in America, was born, Phil, which is actually a groundhog and not really a fat rat, is pulled from his hole each year on February 2nd and if he sees his shadow and returns to his hole then there will be six more weeks of winter. On the other hand, if he doesn’t see his shadow, spring will arrive early that year. The celebration of Groundhog Day is not uniquely American. It has its roots perhaps in the German Candlemas Day or perhaps even further back with pagan rituals surrounding Imbolc.

Since Phil has achieved celebrity status, his life has become much more leisurely, and instead of living in some hole in the earth like a run-of-the-mill Hobbit, Phil now lives the “Life of Riley” in the town library and his every need is catered to by a select group, which call themselves the “Inner Circle.” Members of the Inner Circle tend to be elderly gentlemen who dress in tuxedos and wear top hats. This is perhaps fitting, considering the almost royal status of Phil.

So each year the festivities begin in the early morning freezing temperatures of Punxsutawney. Town’s people, tourist, local school bands, and a media scum from all over America; converge on Gobbler’s Knob for the official reading of the spring arrival prognostication. Of the 123 predictions, Phil has only predicted the arrival of an early spring 14 times. Amazingly, the only year in which there was no pronouncement was in 1943, apparently that year Groundhog Day was cancelled due to war. Of some special interest, relative to global warming, 8 of the 14 predictions for early springs have been since 1983 and 5 of the 14 have been since 1990.

So if you are ever in the area, regardless of season, make the extra effort and take the extra time for a little detour to Punxsutawney. You’ll like the town, you’ll like the people and you will be able to say you met the most famous rodent in the world.

The answer to last weeks quiz is: Nurse Ratched was the evil nurse in the 1975, Milos Forman film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

This week’s quiz: Who were the leading male and female actors in the 1993 movie, Groundhog Day?

Glossary

* in case – v prípade, jestliže

* congested – preplnený

* ranking – razení, pozice

* pronounced – výrazný, vyslovený

* rodent – hlodavec, krysa

* oddly – zvláštne

* no doubt – nepochybne, nesporne,bezpochyby, rozhodne

* furry – chlupatý

* Groundhog day (US) – Hromnice

* pull – táhnout

* uniquely – výhradne, jedinecne

* root – základ, zdroj

* pagan – pohanský

* surrounding – okolní

* achieved – doáhnout, docílit

* leisurely – klidný, neuspechaný

* catered – zásobený

* tend – mít sklon, inklinovat

* tuxedos – smoking

* fitting – vhodný, príhodný, priléhavý

* considering – vzhledem, s ohledem na, se zretelem

* converge – smerovat, soustredit

* prediction – proorctví, veštba

* amazingly – prekvapive, neuveritelne

* apparently – zrejme, patrne

* regardless – bez ohledu na

Remember the Alamo

Remember the Alamo

By Tom Secrest

San Antonio Texas sits at the cross-roads of two major highways. I35 – the I stands for Interstate highway – a north-south highway, which runs from Duluth, Minnesota on the Canadian border to Laredo, Texas on the Mexico border; spanning a distance of 2518 km and I10, an east-west highway, which runs from Jacksonville, Florida on the east coast to Santa Monica, California on the west coast; covering 3959 km.

San Antonio, named after St. Anthony, is about half way along I10, but, as you would expect, pretty far south along I35. The city was settled and named by the Spanish in 1691. It may come as a surprise that San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the U.S. and the 2nd largest in Texas; Houston being the largest city in Texas and the 4th largest in the U.S.

In many ways it is a typical modern Southwestern city, full of lots of tall glass skyscrapers with a booming central business district. Outside of this area are the “burbs,” which is short for “suburbs;” discreet neighborhoods segregated along ethnic, racial, social, historical, and financial lines. During the day the burbs empty and everyone spills into the downtown area, where all the different groups seem to get along just fine and the artificial barriers that separate them in the evenings vanish in the bright sun and heat of the day.

Running through the center of the city is a narrow river, no more than one tenth the width of the Vltava passing through Prague; even a child could throw a coin across it. The river runs slow and quiet and because it is so narrow, it is dwarfed and hidden by the buildings around it. In fact, it would be easy to spend a week in San Antonio and never know there was a river meandering through the middle of the city. In the searing heat of a Texas summer, the river creates its own microclimate. With sidewalks along both banks in the shade of overarching trees and a gentle continuous breeze, the river has become a Mecca for shops, restaurants, and people trying to elude the heat. This microclimate is now better known as the San Antonio River Walk. At night the entire areas takes on a magical festa spirit, transformed by hundreds of thousands of tiny lights strung in the all trees along and across the river. Sidewalk cafes are everywhere and there is no shortage of the best Tex-Mex cuisine in the world.

Remember the Alamo! Originally called Mission San Antonia de Valero, it was home to missionaries. The targets, or subjects, of their good will and enlightenment were, of course, the Native, and by their standards, uncivilized, American Indians. The now historic site was constructed in 1724. Sometime in the early 1800s Spanish soldiers named the mission the Alamo. Alamo is Spanish for cottonwood. Cottonwoods are a type of tree, a tall, majestic, water loving tree, which grows abundantly in the moist soil along the banks of the river. Each spring, they release tiny fluffs of white cotton-like fibers which float on the breeze and slowly fall to ground like big snow flakes.

The Alamo was the site of a significant battle in the Texas Revolution. The battle, which was ultimately lost by the Texians and Tejanos, involved a who’s who of prominent citizens of the time; William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett just to name a few. Like the river, the Alamo is almost invisible. The city has built itself around the old mission the way a vine wraps itself around an old building. So invisible, in fact, you could walk within a block of it and never sense it was there.

But it is there, and like so many places where battles were fought, it has a story to tell. A story about a battle, a battle where few stood against many and died for something they believed in, but would themselves never live to see or enjoy. Here men and women died for the freedom of others and in so doing paid a very high price indeed, and that makes it hallowed ground – ground worth finding and ground worth visiting should you ever pass that way. So when you next hear the expression “Remember the Alamo!” you’ll understand that they don’t mean remember the old mission building, they mean remember freedom, the cost of freedom, the price of freedom, and remember those that made the ultimate sacrifice in its name.

Glossary

* highway – hlavní silnice, dálnice (v USA)

* border – hranice

* spanning – sahající

* coast – breh, pobreží

* covering – pokrývající

* settled – obydlený, založený

* skyscraper – mrakodrap

* suburb – predmestí

* booming – rozvíjející se, vzkvétající

* vanish – zmizet

* coin – mince, peníze

* dwarfed – zakrslý, zakrnelý

* searing – zpražující, pálivý

* sidewalk – dláždený chodník

* tiny – malý, drobounký

* strung – napnutý

* shortage – nedostatek

* enlightenment – osveta, poucení

* cottonwood – americký topol

* cotton – bavlna

* abundant – hojný

* fluff – prach, chomác, chmýrí

* to sacrifice – obetovat se