Happy Groundhog Day! As I mentioned yesterday this has been a pretty mild
winter here in the northeast, but that doesn't reduce hopes for an early spring,
so lets turn to the weather rodents. As unlikely as it seems based on how
overcast is was yesterday, apparently
Punxsutawney Phil
saw his shadow, leading to his prediction of six more weeks of winter. But
even closer to the BlueTower is Staten Island Chuck, reputed to have an 80%
success rate, and beloved for his feisty relationship with publicity-hungry
mayors (Mayor de Blasio did not attend today after
dropping Chuck in 2014 though it was
later reported to be a female stand-in after this accidental public
execution). Chuck (presuming the substitute groundhog story isn't a conspiracy)
did not see his shadow, and called for an early spring. Reports that Chuck
called Phil an untalented hack along the way remain unconfirmed. It's
frustrating to get mixed results from such an exact science like shadow
spotting, but there it is.