Almanac says that there's a lot going on during the month of February

The Groundhog: Nature's weather forecaster

I was flipping through the Old Farmer’s Almanac earlier this week and noticed that there’s a lot going on during the month of February.

Today (Thursday) is Groundhog Day, an unusual holiday rooted in the old superstition that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow and sees its shadow, it will go back in the ground, leaving us to look forward to six more weeks of winter. If it’s cloudy and the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow, spring will come early. The most famous of these weather-forecasting groundhogs is Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Groundhogs don’t live in Alabama, but woodchucks do live in the northern two-thirds of the state. Harper Lee mentioned lots of different types of furry creatures in her novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” including rabbits. Rabbits live in burrows just like groundhogs, so maybe Monroeville should adopt a rabbit to help us forecast how much more winter we have to endure.

Today is also Candlemas, a Christian holiday that commemorates the day that Joseph and Mary presented the infant Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. If you get your Bible out, you can read all about it in Luke 2:22-40. Candlemas is somewhat related to Groundhog Day because many Europeans in days gone by believed that if the sun appeared on Candlemas, animals like hedgehogs and badgers would cast a shadow, resulting in more winter weather.

February’s full moon – known as the Full Snow Moon – will make its appearance on Sunday. We don’t get a lot of snow in our neck of the woods, but for places in the United States that do, February is the snowiest month. Interestingly, the Algonquin Indians called the February full moon the “Groundhog Moon,” but whether or not this has anything to do with the likes of Punxsutawney Phil, I do not know.

Feb. 14 is Valentine’s Day, which marks the day that Saint Valentine of Rome was beaten to death and decapitated by order of the Prefect of Rome. Many scholars believe that the romantic notions surrounding St. Valentine are rooted in the works of writers from the Middle Ages like Geoffrey Chaucer. During these times, folks believed that birds paired up around the middle of February, and this belief became connected with St. Valentine, who was killed around this same time.

My trusty Farmer’s Almanac also says that “winter’s back breaks” on Feb. 17. This old saying connected with this date has to do with folks noticing that the days are getting longer, that is, there’s more daylight with each passing day. According to the almanac, there are 33 more minutes of daylight on Feb. 17 compared to Feb. 1, and there’s an hour and 12 minutes more of daylight on Feb. 28 compared to Feb. 1.

Feb. 21 is what’s known as Shrove Tuesday, but most folks nowadays call it Fat Tuesday. “Mardi” is the French word for “Tuesday,” and “Gras” is French for “fat.” Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent for those who practice the Catholic faith.

The almanac also notes that on Feb. 28, the “night’s brightest stars begin to merge to create an amazing configuration.” This conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter “shouldn’t be missed, although they are so low in the fading evening twilight that they require a totally unblocked western horizon for viewing.” All of this comes one day after the crescent moon closely meets Mars while Venus and Jupiter come together nearby.