Fröhliche Candlemas Und Bear (Groundhog) Day!

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Gary Rice
Posts: 1648
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:59 pm
Location: Lakewood

Fröhliche Candlemas Und Bear (Groundhog) Day!

Postby Gary Rice » Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:09 am

Fröhliche Candlemas Und Bear (Groundhog) Day! :lol:

Dear Friends in Lakewood Land, :D

Guten Morgen: :D

BEAR DAY? JA! For those of us mit some "Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch" roots who know the meaning of the word "Fersommlinge", (a gathering) the unofficial "bear day" idea goes back to pagan times as being the mid-winter event when bears started to leave hibernation and go on the prowl... und JA, nothing, NOTHING, dear reader... is more curious, or adventuresome, or just plain dangerous than a sleepy (and HUNGRY) Pennsylvania black bear waking up and starting to look for food. No garbage can, dog, cat, or chicken, will be safe for weeks! :shock:

Und double YA! they are RETURNING to OHIO, to a backyard near you! Ach du lieber! Aber Ich digress here... :shock:

Fersommlinge is therefore an opportunity for humans to meet and "party on" during an otherwise quiet time of year, und remember die mudderschprooch (mother tongue) und eat plenty of sauerkraut, mit honey und sugar-glazed, clove-spiked winter ham.

(Hmmm...honey? No wonder bears wake up, but again, Ich digress here) :shock:

Of course, was ist ein groundhog after all, but a (somewhat safer) sort of mini-bear? As it is safer to hang around a groundhog hole than a bear den, people could better guess how long winter was going to last, depending on what the groundhog saw on that day, rather than have some black bear come out and chew their leg off. (Remember what curiosity did to the cat?) :shock:

Of course, here in Northeast Ohio, in Medina County in 1818, we pretty much disposed of the local bears with the “Great Hinckley Hunt”, during Christmas time of that year. Area farmers banded together on Christmas Eve, and walked every inch of the land near Hinckley, shooting everything that moved. The buzzards quickly moved in after that, and their descendants return yearly around this time of year, always hoping to find more deceased wildlife. Hinckley’s official “Return of the Buzzard Day” happens every March 15th.

As far as this mid-winter holiday time goes, historically, churches did what they could to change the meaning of this time of year from the pagan celebrations, to having a day of religious significance. Candlemas is a celebration of the presentation of Jesus in the temple, and of the purification of the Blessed Virgin, and is one of the oldest Christian celebrations; marking this exact point of mid-winter, as well as being exactly 40 days after Christmas, and just about that close to springtime too. In many lands, Candlemas is still well known and widely celebrated.

In our state however, (while bears are largely ignored anymore) the groundhog seems to have taken over; as the battle between Pagan and Christian traditions seems to be un-BEAR-able, if you’ll tolerate a bad pun... :lol:

Groundhogs und bears, however, are not the ONLY animals interested in this day. :wink:

Many of you are aware of "Groundparrot Gilligan", my dear parrot companion of many years. Gilly predicted the length of our winters here in Lakewood Land for years in the Lakewood Observer. Gilligan sadly passed away several years back, and was replaced by a small conure named "Badweather BB". BB is so named because of his tendency to predict the winter season, as Gilligan once did.

Unfortunately, little BB has gone blind, and his shadow is just about all that he CAN see, so you know what THAT means. For our area at least, spring will still be a few weeks away for us, but before we know it, we will be back to planting gardens, cutting grass, and sneezing at all the pollen. Still, Badweather BB was so named for a reason. Although the end of winter is in sight, there will likely still be a few more bodacious snows, followed by a few more equally bodacious rain storms. BB loves water, and takes his daily bath with gusto, so there it is dear friends...

Take from all of this was du willst, while you’re passing that next road kill in Medina County. :roll:

Och ja, one more old Pennsylvania Dutch expression that Lakewoodites, and others might be wise to remember: :wink:

"Wer lauert an der Wand, Heert sie eegni Schand", meaning "If you listen through a wall, you will hear what they say about you."

Still, remember what Pete Seeger taught us..."Die gedanken sind frei". (Thoughts are free!) :)

At least, mine still are. How about YOURS these days? :roll:

Ah well... Man kann nicht immer gewinnin. (You can't win 'em all!) :D

Back to the banjo... :D


Stan Austin
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Posts: 2462
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 12:02 pm
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Re: Fröhliche Candlemas Und Bear (Groundhog) Day!

Postby Stan Austin » Fri Feb 03, 2023 12:33 pm

Gary---I have an idea! Let's petition the Deck organizers to provide Chinese typeface-----Que vous pense? Stan



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