It's GROUNDHOG DAY!

Dsc_004020080202Our family woke up before 6am this morning for the celebration of Groundhog Day.  It may not seem like a good reason to wake up early on a Saturday (and at 5:45 this morning it didn't feel like a good reason either), but we were all excited to enjoy the morning festivities together. 

Dsc_001420080202 The movie Groundhog Day, which was filmed in my city (Woodstock, IL), sparked Woodstock's own week of Groundhog Days.  Lots of stuff to do.  It all peaked today at 7:07am when hundreds of people gathered to see Woodstock Willie, "the prognosticator of prognosticators," reveal the news about our fate. 

Will it be a longer winter or an early spring?  For the answer we turn to a large rat who bases his infallible answer on, of all things, whether or not he sees his shadow.  Rather than telling you his answer I felt it was only right for you to experience the event for yourself.  Thanks to the McCoy "shakycam" (as well as a few photos) you can hear it straight from the rat's (Bill Murray's term, not mine) lips.  Here's how it went down.  If you want to hear what the other rat said (the slightly more historic one), go here.