I was watching the news yesterday and discovered that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and we're now going to face six more weeks of winter, after which the announcer declared - dilly dilly.
So what the heck does dilly dilly mean? Apparently it’s a declaration that something or someone is remarkable, unusual or worthwhile. Why six weeks of winter is a good thing is a bit of a mystery to me, but to each his own.
After that I wondered what was the origin of dilly dilly. Well, it appears it's a shortened version of the word delightful or possibly delicious, and most probably came down to us from the 1930s.
However, this prediction was interesting since it was cloudy, and Phil — just like everyone else in attendance — didn't cast any shadow at all. So, if he didn't see his shadow - according to legend - that means the worst of winter is over and an early spring is on the way."
Whoa - what's going on here? Is Phil declaring more or less winter?
Well, supposedly this less winter scenario is "an unusual prediction: It's only happened 18 other times in the 132-year history of the tradition." But wait - the announcer said Phil did see his shadow! Oh well......does it really matter since it appears Phil is usually wrong. Isn't he?
Not so according to those called the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. Since "the groundhog's predictions aren't geographically specific (they always come to pass somewhere)." Kinda like that joke about the drunk who never drinks until after 5:00 PM but claims it's always 5:00 PM somewhere so he can start drinking at noon. Okay, so based on that - flipping a coin would probably work just as well, but who cares.
Hollywood made a movie about Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day and called it - yep you guessed it - Groundhog Day. (Filmed in Woodstock, Illinois because according to Hollywood Punxsutawney didn't look like it should. Go figure - that's Hollywood)
Groundhog Day is shown on February 2nd every year and some station will run it as an all day marathon, and yes, I watched it. It’s now become an America movie classic raising the interest and crowd level in Punxsutawney on February 2nd ever since.
As for the people of Punxsutawney - well, this is an unofficial holiday where everyone gets together and a good time is had by all!
Dilly dilly!
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