If Candlemas be fair and bright,

Come, winter, have another flight.

If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,

Go, winter, and come not again.

If there's a credo for Groundhog Day, that verse is it according to my "sources" on the Internet. That day of days " my late grandfather's favorite holiday because he didn't have to give gifts " comes Saturday, Feb. 2. And tradition has it that if the groundhog sees his shadow then we're in for six more weeks of winter, but if he doesn't then winter's about over.

I don't know about you, but I for one will be found praying for a cloudy day on Saturday!

Across the years I've regaled this holiday as a time for mid-winter levity. After all, what's "scientific" about consulting a furry, subterranean creature for a weather forecast? But then where's the science in looking at woolly worms or squirrels' tails? In the end, it's just a lot of fun.

I've tried to spur celebrations, but there just doesn't seem to be much interest in this cosmopolitan Capital City of the Bluegrass. Maybe I'll try again next year.

Long years ago, my friend Jack Walters once sent me a recipe for corn pudding, suggesting I could whip up one and take it, while hot, to the hole of a groundhog. Then, perhaps the fumes wafting into the hole would encourage him to emerge from his slumber and give us a prediction.

I didn't cook the corn pudding since I don't "do" corn pudding well. It might have worked.

If you're interested in the history, here's a bit of what I've found out about this holiday which traces its roots back to this country's pre-history and to our ancestors who ventured across the ocean from Europe.

Back before the first settlers arrived, and according to the original "creation story" of the Delaware Indians, the "Lenni Lenape" (or original people) who were their fore bearers began life as animals in "mother earth" and emerged centuries later to hunt and live as men.

Thus it was that Oijik (Wejak) or Wojak, which was carried over to us as "woodchuck," came to be recognized as the "grandfather" of the earliest inhabitants of this area. The woodchuck is also known as the groundhog.

Therefore we have a connection with our American roots to this day.

Candlemas Day

Again from Internet sources:
Meanwhile, back in the old country, the tradition of Candlemas Day stems from the early Christians in Europe. For centuries it was the custom to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. This day marked a milestone in the winter, and the weather on that day was important, yielding the verse with which I began this tale.

Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern regions, supposedly brought this tradition to the German peoples who picked up on it and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow thus predicting six more weeks of winter.

As Europeans sailed for the new world, they brought with them their beliefs and traditions but left behind the flora and fauna of their homeland. Pennsylvania's earliest European settlers were Germans, called the "Pennsylvania Dutch."

There were no hedgehogs in Pennsylvania, but they found groundhogs in profusion. The groundhog resembles the European hedgehog and as it turned out the groundhog, or "woodchuck," already was esteemed by the Indians, as is noted above.

It was observed that the groundhog is a most wise and sensible animal. If the sun did appear on Feb. 2 (Candlemas Day), therefore, he would see his shadow and hurry to his underground home for another six weeks of winter.

That, my faithful out there in Readerland, is how it all began. But, as the source notes:

The Tradition Builds

Groundhog Day has been called "one of the greatest ongoing publicity campaigns in history" and certainly the tiny borough of Punxsutawney, Pa., would remain unknown to the outside world if not for Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog who's hauled rather unceremoniously from his hole every Feb. 2 by a bunch of guys in top hats and tails.

Prior to 1887, history reveals, the sad truth is that groundhogs were more likely to be eaten than revered for their weather forecasting abilities. But across the years the groundhog has risen from a food item to possess the lofty titles of "The Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary."

If it wasn't for the Groundhog Club in Punxsutawney, the tradition of the groundhog might have been lost to antiquity.

And there you have it: More than you probably ever wanted to know about Groundhog Day.

So, have a good Groundhog Day on Saturday, watch the news for Punxsutawney Phil's report knowing that perhaps someday we may have our own official Frankfort groundhog - as long as he's not in my barn!

If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,

There'll be two winters in the year.