{"id":13250,"date":"2016-01-27T18:10:46","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T23:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=13250"},"modified":"2016-02-10T11:52:31","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T16:52:31","slug":"inside-aurora-groundhog-daze-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/inside-aurora-groundhog-daze-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"INSIDE AURORA: Groundhog Daze 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n

A few days ago, as often happened when I was out walking in the arboretum this time of year, I ran into Aurora Annie, our local weather prognosticating groundhog.
\nAs was frequently the case when I saw her, she looked depressed.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d I asked, brushing the snow off a convenient bench and sitting down. \u201cAre you concerned about getting your prediction right this year?\u201d
\n\u201cNo, it\u2019s not that,\u201d she sighed, hopping up to take a spot beside me. \u201cI just don\u2019t know if people appreciate me anymore.\u201d
\n\u201cOf course, we do,\u201d I reassured her. \u201cCanadians love talking about the weather, and there aren\u2019t many towns with someone of your talents. What are you at, a 72 per cent accuracy rate?\u201d
\n\u201cActually, it\u2019s 78 per cent,\u201d she said with a shy smile. Then, throwing her tiny arms wide she continued, \u201cbut it\u2019s not my meteorological skills, it\u2019s that no one really cares what I have to say.\u201d
\nLooking off into the distance, she sighed again.
\n\u201cI remember when people would flock to Aurora to hear my predictions. There would be newspeople, and well-wishers by the dozen. I\u2019d stand up on that stump over there, the crowd would hush with anticipation, and I\u2019d make my prediction. Then they\u2019d cheer and laugh and smile. It didn\u2019t even matter whether it was expected to be a long or short winter. It was a real party atmosphere.\u201d
\n\u201cNow, no one really knows I exist, and The Auroran\u2019s about the only annual media coverage I get. As for folks from outside of Town, even if they did show up, there\u2019s no hotel space to accommodate them, anyway.\u201d
\n\u201cMaybe that\u2019s your problem,\u201d I said. \u201cYou need to adapt to the times.\u201d
\nShe sniffed as she looked over.
\nI think she\u2019d been crying a bit.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been tradition for you to stand out here and make your announcements. That\u2019s what Groundhog Day is all about. But, apart from maybe the Arctic Adventure, people don\u2019t want to spend hours standing around outside in the cold in February. They\u2019d rather all be inside on their smart phones and tablets.\u201d
\n\u201cSo why don\u2019t to take to the internet, or Twitter, or Facebook? I bet if you got plugged into social media, you\u2019d get millions of followers from all over the world.\u201d
\n\u201cYou really think so?\u201d she asked, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes.
\n\u201cSure. And instead of seeing you once a year, you\u2019d be able to connect instantly with people every day. With that sort of profile, you\u2019d have tons of momentum going into February each year.\u201d
\n\u201cI would, wouldn\u2019t I?\u201d
\nThinking it over and looking around, she said, \u201cIt really can be quite bitter out here in early February. I could do all that from inside my burrow, and not even step outside!\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s the spirit,\u201d I enthused. \u201cAnd all you need are some basic communication devices and a good wifi connection. Any good electronics place could set you up with everything you need in no time.\u201d
\n\u201cYes!\u201d she exclaimed, sitting up quickly. \u201cI\u2019m going to look into that right now.\u201d
\nWith that, she hopped off the bench and hurried off with a spring in her step.
\nAs I watched her disappear around a corner, I mentally wished her well. Groundhog Day doesn\u2019t attract the attention it once did, and I\u2019d hate to see Aurora loose Annie\u2019s predictions and another of its traditions.<\/p>\n

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston A few days ago, as often happened when I was out walking in the arboretum this time of year, I ran into Aurora Annie, our local weather prognosticating groundhog. As was frequently the case when I saw her, she looked depressed. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d I asked, brushing the snow off a convenient […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-3rI","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 21:31:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}