Minion Quote: "Singing in the shower is all fun and games until you get shampoo in your mouth. Then it just becomes a soap opera." ~ copied

Today is Friday, February 3, 2016, and I suppose I should do a little countdown over the next few days. I'm not talking about that groundhog varmint up east that predicts how much more winter will be on tap. I'm talking about the number of my blogs. Today is the 2,496th time that I have published one of these since cranking it up back in the summer of 2007. Since I was here early anyway, yesterday morning I did tune into the live feed from Gobbler's Nob, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. There was a huge crowd there. Standing out in the cold. It was 30 degrees. They were all awaiting the time when the star of the program, yep, that would be the groundhog, would make his appearance. He was given an official name some years ago. Here it is: "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary'." They had a lady country singer from Texas who shivered her way through Merl Haggard's, "The Fighting Side of Me", one I didn't recognize, and the national anthem. That was followed by a fireworks display accompanied by Star Wars music. I'm not sure what the little hog was thinking with all that commotion going on, but, since it is a rodent in the woodchuck family, I would assume bombs bursting in the air would not necessarily be something it would enjoy. After that, a very bad example of a bluegrass band did some songs. When they were introduced, the leader thanked someone by name for liking them on Facebook. Just before the entrance of the main star, two fellows led the rowdy crowd in some kind of a groundhog walk song. (Think: Do the groundhog walk.) Mercifully, daylight did finally come and the groundhog gave his verdict: Six more weeks of winter. (You can check out the accuracy of these prognostications over time. That type of fact checking is available out on the web.)

I'm trying to think if I ever participated in something so stupid. Nothing comes immediately to mind, but, if I come up with something I will get back to you. I'm talking about at a public gathering. When I was a kid growing up, I'm sure I did some pretty stupid things. After all, on a dare, I was the only young teenaged boy willing to strip down to my underwear and dive from a small boat into a frigid lake. The real payoff came in making it look like I was enjoying my little swim. That would be legendary stupid, but, these people all cheering and carrying on over a little rodent who looked like he wanted to bite someone, well, while I don't condone the public consumption of alcohol, I almost hope they have that for an excuse. I know. It's a money making tourist deal. I get it. It just seems to be a wee bit over the line in its weirdness. I also make this comment. I don't think the animal ever actually had an opportunity to see his shadow. All these people were hovering around. The two fellows who were the designated handlers had a firm grip on the little dude. They had two scrolls laying on the little trunk looking platform. According to the president of the local groundhog club, Phil, the little rodent, chose one of the scrolls. I didn't actually see any choosing going on. Because of this, I call for an immediate congressional investigation into the conduct of this weather forecasting event. Maybe they can get Al Gore to help as a consultant. It's time to get to the bottom of this charade. I don't have a petition yet, but, don't forget, you heard it first from me.

I'm just having a little fun here on a Friday. I think I now know how Paw Paw Mac must have felt when he woke up from a little nap and noticed he had an audience watching him. The other evening I came in from Wednesday night prayer meeting and I sat down in my recliner. We had the TV on a rerun of NCIS. Four of our grandchildren were staying with us. I told them that particular episode was a good one. I leaned back in my recliner and next thing I knew there were only about ten minutes left in the show. When I woke up, the wife and two of the grandchildren were looking at me. I blurted out, "What?" They didn't say a word, they just laughed. I asked if I had been making noises. Unison response, "Oh yeah!" Okay. They just don't understand. But, I'm okay with them getting a kick out of my napping. It was obviously more entertaining than the show on TV. I am looking forward, Lord willing, to seeing mom and dad tomorrow over in Louisiana. I will let you know how all of that is going. I do hope that you will have yourself a really good Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday. You know. Super Bowl Sunday. We already have a conflict. We've been watching the Masterpiece Series on Queen Victoria on Sunday evenings. Maybe we can live stream the game on the laptop. It's so old the actual plays will appear to be in slow motion but that's okay. I like slow motion. Enjoy. And, may God bless us all is my prayer. Amen. ....More later.