Happy Freedom

Last week was July 4th, the day we celebrate freedom. I enjoy history; mostly I enjoy the trivia that is in history. The little tidbits make it real to me. So I thought I would share a couple of historical tidbits with you. 

• You probably do not know the name Richard Henry Lee, but he is important to American History. He is the guy who made the motion for the colonies to declare independence from Great Britain. That was on July 2, 1776. It was on July 4, 1776 that the Declaration of Independence was formally accepted.
• The Revolutionary War did not end on July 4th, 1776.  It started on April 19, 1775 and ended on September 3, 1785. The war lasted for 20 years. Declaration is just the beginning. If you really mean it, you have to take a stand for it. 

So  there you have it, a couple of thoughts concerning the War of Independence. Oh and here is one more interesting tidbit.

• John Adams felt that acknowledging the Declaration should happen on July 2nd, so when he was invited to attend a July 4th engagement, he declined.

Now you have it, a little bit of our nation’s story. Happy freedom to you!!

Groundhog Day

Last week Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.* 

I've never met Phil, but I've seen lots of his kin in my lifetime. A groundhog is a woodchuck, a rodent, a ground squirrel. I grew up on a farm in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York and there were woodchuck holes all over the fields. The critters liver underground, where they dig long tunnels with several openings on the surface. When I was a young girl, I my father stopping me from galloping a horse through the field. He took me out to that field, showed me a groundhog hole and said, “If that horse steps in one of these holes while running, it's gonna break its leg and we’ll have to put ‘em down.” I never ran a horse through the field again.

In Germany, hedgehogs were the animal of choice to predict the coming of spring. But when German immigrants came to America, there were no hedgehogs to be found — so they called upon the woodchuck to predict the weather. It works like this: if the groundhog sees its shadow, it will be scared of the shadow and run back down the hole to sleep for another 6 weeks. But if the groundhog does not see its shadow, it means spring is close at hand. Now, mind you, groundhogs are only 40% successful at actually predicting the coming of spring, but still the ritual happens every year. Oh well, what can you expect from a humble rodent that never went to college.

*If you aren't happy with Phil's prediction, here are 8 other groundhogs that predicted spring last week.