On February 2nd in Canada and the USA we have a "tradition" called Groundhog's Day. The Groundhog emerges from his burrow and if it is cloudy and it does not see it's shadow then spring will come early. If it is a sunny day and the Groundhog sees it's shadow, then we will have 6 more weeks of winter. In the case of a cold, snowy winter-many people would hope that the Groundhog will not see it's shadow as we are all ready for spring!
Of course, this is all folklore but many people do listen to the results. Do you have this or a tradition similar to this in your country? There is a very funny movie called "Groundhog's Day" with Bill Murray.
I've just watched this wonderful film "Groundhog day " made in 1993 - nice tradition.
One of people's observation here in Ukraine is: if swallows are flying low then we should wait for a rain soon.
Hi Lisa,
That's very nice, I like that tradition. We don't have a similar tradition in the Netherlands, though. During the winter, some people just look at the trees, to see if leaves are growing, or if the flowers are starting to flourish (or flowers), that's not tradition, I'd say rather a habit. It is usually the elders that teaches the younger generation what signs to look for.
However, for the last decade or so the weather has changed, it seems that the winters are gradually softer year by year, so our (Dutch) beloved and popular Crocus (Vernus) even develops much earlier on, so much so that in early February we would see stamens of the crocus half or even fully developed. The children (and adolescents) in schools here, are granted a holiday of one week, called Crocus holiday (attributed to the flowers name), and in some southern parts of the country even two weeks because of Carnival, which is usually scheduled somewhere in between the 15-28(29) of February, even till some early days in March.
Anyway, I wander if you sing songs together, drink and eat together, as same or similar in the movie: Groundhog Day. I've seen that movie, and Bill Murray is very funny.
