February 2, 2008

roundhog Day!

"Away in a meadow all covered with snow
The little old groundhog looks for his shadow
The clouds in the sky determine our fate
If winter will leave us all early or late."
-  Don Halley

A groundhog is in the Marmot family and I have Marmots where I live. There is a family of them which live down the road. They are also called Woodchucks, but in my area, they are known as Marmots. The etymology of the name woodchuck is unrelated to wood. It stems from the Native American Algonquian name for the animal, which is 'wuchak'. The relationship between the two words has led to the common tongue twister: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

It is overcast and a chance of flurries today. Living where I do, I still can't plant the garden until the last weekend in May anyway, so I do not care what the Groundhogs are saying anyhow. I know winter and snow is usually still on the ground in mid-May. And I didn't see the local Marmots. They are probably smart, burrowed in their dens with a quilt over their heads still.