2 February 2009

After two days of bitter wind and clear skies, Oxford woke up to snow on the ground and more falling from the sky. This is a nice change from January's sharp chill but soggy skies. while the morning snow resembled weak tea, the late morning snow looks more like the healthy, cotton balls of high mountains.

It doesn't however bode well for the next few weeks. As a more famous meteorologist might suggest, we are likely to have six more weeks of winter.

Yes, I am referring to today as Groundhog Day. There is the story of Groundhog Day and the film. Both famous but for different reasons.

For the former, if a groundhog comes out of its burrow and sees its shadow, we have six more weeks of winter. Determining whether or not this occurs is an obvious matter for debate but a fun, annual event.

Except if you are Bill Murray. In the film version, he gets stuck in a time loop that makes everyday Groundhog day, over and over and over.... After testing whether in fact he could 'get away with some mild tomfoolery', he resigns himself only to discover that he is immortal (or at least unable to end the cycle by killing himself). After all this, and finally [and this is the message of the film] he settles on self-improvement and eventually finds a way to move forward.

There is an Italian remake, È già ieri, which takes place on the Canary Islands archipelago on August 13 (vs. 2 Feb). And, instead of groundhogs, it is storks.