Image by Kate Endle from our Little Critter 2016 wall calendar. Click image for more.

Groundhog Day might seem frivolous—people gathering in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to see Punxsutawney Phil lumber out of his burrow and thus determining the weather for the coming year. But Groundhog Day is one of a number of holidays—which include the Celtic Imbolc and the Christian Candlemas—that are celebrated at this moment, halfway between midwinter (Yule) and the height of spring (Easter, Spring Equinox), when the first signs of spring are evident, whether those are the thaw, the emergence of snowdrops, or the head of a groundhog poking out of a burrow. Continue reading →