First, a report out of Punxsutawney, Penn., that Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) did not see his shadow:
Punxsutawney Phil emerged from a tree stump at dawn and, unusually, did not see his shadow, signaling that spring is just around the corner, according to tradition.
"He found that there was no shadow," said Bill Deeley, president of a club that organizes Groundhog Day in the western Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney. "So an early spring it will be."
Ah, but there's a catch:
"There is no question that Phil is capable of feeling empathy," Johnston said in an interview. "But he is absolutely incapable of error."
The rodent's predictions are "not burdened by being site-specific" and so can be sure to predict an early spring in some part of the world, Johnston added.
Who knew Phil was a lawyer? Also—wasn't there, you know, a blizzard last night?
While western Pennsylvania was spared the worst of the storm, many central and northern areas of the U.S. were hit by snow and ice that closed roads, shut down businesses, and grounded flights.
But the Punxsutawney crowd, which started arriving on Gobbler's Knob at 3 a.m., braved some of the worst weather in the last 20 years of Groundhog Day, said [Mike Johnston, vice president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, or board of directors].
Looking outside at the weather in Chicago, I hope Phil was thinking of the north-central U.S....
Update: The Tribune has video, and allows sharing, so: