Thursday, January 31, 2013

A repetition

He's coming!


Will you be ready? 


 

I have always loved Groundhog Day.  And really, what's not to love?  It is ancient and  mysterious and comes without any fanfare in your local shopping emporium!  It gives us some hope in the grip of winter, something fun and joyful and silly and profound.  It made for a great movie, too.

I'm not exactly sure how I managed to find a groundhog cookie cutter, but if you're feeling the need I see there's a similar one here.  I can't recommend the new recipe I tried for chocolate-espresso shortbread (way too dry), but if a deep dip in dark chocolate to represent that peek out from the burrow isn't appropriate AND taste-saving I don't know what is.

We'll be having fondue for dinner on Saturday, in front of a roaring fire and with that certain perfect movie on screen.

And I'll be thinking of my dad, who passed away 14 years ago on Feb 2.  I cannot believe it has been that long.  I still miss him and think of him every day.  And yet it's a little easier every year to smile when I think about all the jokes he would have made about passing away on Groundhog Day -- really, he would have found that endlessly amusing.

Celebrate the day, won't you? And let's hope he does not see his shadow....

2 comments:

Lesley said...

Wow - that sounds like a lot of fun! But what if you watch and watch and there's no groundhog? Do they always appear? Are they the same as gophers?
I LOVE that plate, by the way.

XXX

Jennifer said...

Groundhogs are actually their own, real thing -- distinct from gophers and other various low-ground rodents. We had at least one living in the yard at our old house. The deal here is that the good people of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania hold a BIG party/ceremony every year, and Phil, the *official* groundhog is removed from his showpiece burrow to give us the news about 6 more weeks or an early end to winter. I think we'll just old up some cookies and see if we see a shadow (which is the bad result, meaning 6 more weeks). (I love those plates too and sadly only have 2 so they don't get much use!)