Lady Edwina, Miss Margo and me

Twenty years after I procrastinated ordering my Christmas card and thus became the world’s most ardent Groundhog Day fan, I got to see a live ceremony.

It’s hard to say who was more excited about the whole deal, me or Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo. With his thick New Jersey accent, Joe D. introduced Lady Edwina to the adoring masses, some of whom held campaign signs. Both he and the groundhog of the hour basked in the day’s glory.

Five hours due east of Punxsutawney, the Groundhog Ceremony at the Turtle Back Zoo seemed much more civilized on the surface. No one yanked Lady Edwina, or held her aloft by the scruff of her neck. Instead, she stepped gracefully out of her cage, nibbled daintily at the treats she found there, nodded at the throng of admirers and then ducked back to her cage.

She even prognosticated by poem.

The whole scene would have been quite bucolic had one not listened carefully to Mr. DiVincenzo’s introduction in which he said he was “here to make sure the groundhog does the right thing or someone is going to get fired.”

It made me wonder if an early spring is always the prediction according to Essex County groundhogs and what happens to the poor groundhog who begs to differ.

In any case, I found the whole ceremony delightful. Our little granddaughter Margo humored me during the groundhog portion of our visit, and then led us on a tour of her favorite winter exhibits.

We love the Turtle Back Zoo in any season. Even on a cold day, the place hummed with activity. We got to see the penguins and the pelicans have lunch. It was quite amazing to see them line up like elementary school children in a cafeteria and then gobble with glee. (A great day for penguins and pelicans is a not so great day for fish.)

We also watched the gibbons ham it up for our little crowd of five, flattered that they seemed so thrilled to see us. We waved to the condors, became one with the prairie dogs and two of us even touched some friendly stingrays.

I’d like to thank Lady Edwina for her polite (even if perilously prompted) prognosis of an early spring, and the Turtle Back Zoo for another really fun visit.

I hear Wisconsin’s groundhog Jimmy also predicted an early spring. I’m not sure if there’s some sort of groundhog guild that assigns predictions and I don’t really care.

If Lady Edwina and Sun Prairie Jimmy both predict an early spring, I’m a believer (despite Saturday’s predicted snowstorm).

Here’s the poem Lady Edwina presented to the world (which included another interesting prediction):

Here we are once again

to look forward not back.

Should we replace those old mittens?

Do we have shorts to unpack?

Well look I’m over this winter.

I’m ready for spring.

I want flowers and picnics

Not the touch of wind’s sting.

So, today I’m happy for the clouds

No shadows do we have.