Throw a ball at the sun!

Hi neighbors. It's not spring yet. I can't remember if the groundhog is supposed to see his shadow (meaning the sun is out) and there will be an early spring; or if there will be a longer stretch of winter weather if he does or does not see his shadow. Guess I need to do some research.

Punxsutawney Phil is supposedly the "official" groundhog that brings tidings of weather to come.

I was amazed to discover that he has his own website on Facebook. There is one catch though, they admit that Phil doesn't speak nor tweet and his blog is done by some human somewhere within the inner circle who can understand Phil's "groundhogese."

According to that Facebook page on Feb. 2, Phil comes out of his burrow on Gobbler's Knob, in front of thousands of faithful followers from all over the world, to predict the weather for the rest of the winter.

According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring. (Guess I had it wrong.)

The celebration of Groundhog Day began with the Germans, Pennsylvania's earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states "For as the sun shines on Candlemas day, so far will the snow swirl in May..." The settlers found that groundhogs were plentiful and were the most intelligent and sensible animal to carry on the legend of Candlemas Day.

Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800s. The first official trek to Gobbler's Knob was made on Feb. 2, 1887. In 2008 it was the 122nd prediction. (Let's do the math. Hum. 2014 less 2008 equals six so 122 plus six is 128. Well, that was more work than it was worth I guess.)

So the story goes, Punxsutawney Phil was named after King Phillip. Prior to being called Phil, he was called Br'er Groundhog.

(Hey, I remember Br'er Rabbit! I wonder if they grew up in the same briar patch?)

I don't know many traditions for Groundhog Day celebrations. I mean, after all, the entire event lasts less than one minute. How long does it take a ground hog to climb out of a box and see (or not) its shadow?

For those who like to party, Groundhog Day is also Super Bowl Sunday so I suppose you could mix the two. Put some little umbrellas on those tailgate sandwiches or drinks to peek-a-boo the sun. Get a groundhog hat to wear. OK, it doesn't match any team but who cares?

Get a large cardboard box (like those refrigerators or washing machines are shipped in) and let your children pop out to look for their shadow. Shine a bright flashlight for them to try to run to and keep moving it so they can't see their shadow.

If you have a small dog -- or fat cat -- dress them up to look like groundhogs. That may not seem like much to do; but it could take all day to do it.

Well, let's hope for an overcast day Sunday and an early spring! If you see the sun popping out early in the morning, throw a football at it!