Groundhog Day just came and went without the Missourinet noticing this week. Blizzards have a way of making supposedly prognosticating rodents even more irrelevant than usual.
We never notice Groundhog Day at the Missourinet anyway. Even when we’re not up to our necks in snow and snow stories, we could care less about the groundhog.
The closest thing we came to recognizing groundhog day was having sausage with our breakfast one morning this week. That’s the only kind of ground hog that makes any difference to us.
Nothing against groundhogs, mind you. In fact we had one living with us for a little bit many years ago. Wife Nancy worked with the conservation department at the time and the department had a groundhog that somebody had to keep; for a few days until the department figured out where to send it. So he came to live with us. Stayed in the bathtub (they don’t climb porcelain very well, you know, and he couldn’t utilize his digging skills either.). But the kids had him in the living room once or twice, treating him like a pet. He was a nice fellow who didn’t seem to object to the attention, didn’t try to scuttle under the couch or anything. Didn’t make any demands. Didn’t growl or bite although we understand they can bite, will, and do.
But this guy further convinced us that groundhogs deserve better than to be turned into some kind of a publicity stunt. And that’s all groundhog day is. There are more important and meaningful things going on and with only three minutes of text in our newscast it makes little sense to spend precious words on groundhog day.
Moving along:
Schools are running out of snow days or already have run out of them. Look for legislation to be introduced soon that would forgive schools some of the days beyond the limits now established, relieving them of having to make up all of the days they are missing, have missed, or will miss in this school year.
Some students don’t realize it yet, but many of them are getting their Spring or Easter breaks now. The days their school districts had scheduled for those breaks will become class days to make up for all of the cancelled time this winter.
Potential news story for the futures file: Check the birth announcements for early October.
We broke camp here at Camp Missourinet last night. Finally got home. Drove down streets where the snow on the sides is higher than the roof of the car. The big concern at our house and perhaps at yours is all of that snow on the roof now and what’s going to happen when it starts to melt and re-freeze.
Sounds like a news story we need to chase today.
