Winter Folklore

Groundhog Day - I seem to forget about this day every year until it rolls around. Then for a few moments, I, like all other Americans, stand by my television, hold my breathe, and watch for word from the head rodent.

Will we have 6 additional weeks of winter?
Punxsutawney, Atlanta, Staten Island, Sun Prairie and even by beloved Ham are just some of the cities that have cashed in on this day. But I'm not giving props to any particular groundhog (sorry, Bill). Why? Because it's all just a farce. Don't get me wrong, Groundhog Day is marketing genius! I had no idea there were so many winter, uhm, predictors. But I say Keep your groundhogs!

As a little girl, I remember my granny predicted the end of winter by watching for when the blackberries bloomed.

Blackberry Winter
After the glow of the holidays, I began to long for the warmth of spring. I hated being couped up in the house and the seemingly endless days until I could run and play outside. "How much longer 'til it gets warm?", I would ask most every day. "After the blackberries bloom" she would say. There would be one or two weeks that I would be fooled into thinking that spring had arrived. But she would caution me that the blackberries haven't bloomed. She would knowingly advise "Winter isn't over until we've had Blackberry Winter."

(A little seasonal lesson for all my non-Blackberry Winter readers - Around mid-March, the weather will start to turn warm here in the South. It's fairly pleasant with some temperatures in the 90's. And you can be easily lullied into thinking that winter is done for the year. And that's where you would be wrong. Toward the end of April there will be a sudden cold snap - generally lasting about two weeks. This sudden climate change tends to coincide with the blooming of the blackberries - thus Blackberry Winter.)

At 8-years-old, I had no idea what these crazy berries had to do with winter or why my granny watched for their blooms. As I have matured and realized that the seasons follow a natural progression, I have come to understand the wisdom behind watching nature. Say what you will about folklore, but to this day, I still don't put away my winter coats until after Blackberry Winter.