...
How could not seeing his shadow portend a shorter winter? That seems counterintuitive as heck to me, no matter how many times the teacher repeated it. I was a very scientific kid, slow to see the humor in that sort of reasoning. I loved that everyone was watching for groundhog wisdom; don't get me wrong there. I just didn't love everyone running around with spurious science on their lips. I was not a nerd, but I always entered projects in the SCIENCE FAIR. I wasn't shy. I wasn't trouble. I wasn't unpopular. I wasn't in. I wasn't out. I was engaged with the world. I was thoughtful. I was stone crazy for animals of almost every description. I didn't get this Groundhog Day thing.
Does anyone else? I figure that if there was any folk wisdom to it, it would be that sunny and freezing days meant winter was not going to let go anytime soon... but... we had some sunny and freezing days just a couple weeks ago and they're sunny and warm now. It was perfectly clear out last night and about fifty degrees....
And, ahem, you guys made me feel like a dork for complaining of no Orion in winter a couple years ago. I was out there and Orion was out there, too, big as heck. He was on his side, not standing up, but he was out there for certain, and, goddammit, what happened to the other sphinx?
I'm NOT THE ONLY ONE wondering. The difference seems to be that I remember the world with two sphinxes at Giza, and everybody keeps acting as though there was ever only one.
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