We don’t have groundhogs around here, and the closest thing to them might be our marmots who live up in the hills. So Crispin has to do double duty while scratching out a life. He has to predict whether we’ll have an early spring or six more weeks of winter. I asked him what he thinks.

The winter here has been so long, I don’t know how we stand it,

If I don’t see my shadow now, it’s possible to end it.

A shadow means the sun is out, the day is cold and clear,

A cloudy day, though gray, is warm, and pleasant days are near.

The rainy days go on and on, and everything is  wet,

But daffodils are poking out to promise flowers we’ll get,

I’m sure that spring will show up soon and warmer days will come,

And if I’m not yet singing loud, at least I’m going to hum.