Groundhog Day should be banned in Canada – Winter is here

Jeff Green | Feb 11, 2015

I understand that the tourism department of the Village of Wiarton counts on Groundhog Day as the prime branding event of the year, but when you compare that lost opportunity to the cost of Goundhog Day on our health care system, the calculation is lopsided to say the least

First things first. February is a winter month in Canada, even in relatively warm southern Canada regions such as ours. This is not a matter of debate. We all hold winter festivals in February, such as the two this coming weekend in Frontenac County. We skidoo, we ski, we snowshoe, we shovel, we empty ash cans, fill stoves and carry in wood in February. On a clear day it is beautiful and sunny and cold, on a clear night with a full moon it is even colder. When the weather is cloudy and the world is an ugly cold mess, and when the wind is blowing, well, you know all about that.

So to pretend that some groundhog is going to come out of their burrow is ludicrous, and the whole shadow thing makes even less sense. Perhaps in parts of the United States, spring comes in February, but in our case six more weeks of winter is the best we can hope for.

This might seem like harmless fun, but think of the human cost. Instead of humble acceptance of our fate, we are tempted by false hope, and dashed hopes can be damaging to the human psyche, leading to a de-moralized population, and adding costs to the health care system.

We need to accept winter and sit by the stove or heat register, or defy it by embracing the outdoors. That's why the winter festivals all take place in February and not January.

We all write January off, rightly so; it is cold and dark. By February we feel a need to get outside, live in the cold and feel good and strong. We watch the polar plungers just to remind ourselves that it could be worse, much worse.

But to pretend that spring is around the corner, that's just cruel folly.

Take the maple trees, for example: are they going to start running when it is -24 at night and -15 in the day and the wind is whipping though their branches? No, they will remain dormant until the time is right. We should follow the example of those trees, and allow all thoughts of spring to remain hidden in the recesses of our subconscious

March will be here soon enough, and it is a really cruel, fickle month, the very soul of false hope.

February is not like that at all. It is cold but honest, humble even. It does not linger; four weeks and it is done.

We should not hate February. We should ban Groundhog Day.