Winter Storm--NOT!

Winter storm Juno turned out to be a big nothing. We were not disappointed. Terry in particular enjoyed his visit from the Goddess of Unexpected Free Time—the wicked north wind blew the little bit of snow we got clean off the driveway. No shoveling for him today!

The snow this morning didn't even cover the grass. The white parts are from before.

We had watched the storm anxiously as Hilda and I were scheduled to go to Crystal Lake this morning for the Land Conservancy’s brunch/fundraiser/annual meeting. In addition, Doug Elliott was going to tell us stories of groundhogs. Given that we had barely a dusting of snow, we were surprised that there was some drifted snow over the road as we went south, where more snow had obviously fallen. We made it to the event in good time nevertheless.

The brunch was a buffet. I had every intention of not eating too much, which is no different than every other buffet I’ve ever been to in my life. I was pretty okay until I got to the Eggs Benedict. I can’t pass up Eggs Benedict. And just one sausage, one piece of bacon, one chicken wing….. I ate too much, like every other buffet I’ve ever been to in my life.

When Hilda first told me about the event, I didn’t connect the groundhog topic to anything in particular. Once Elliott started talking, it was obvious that the topic was timely—Groundhog’s Day, duh. The alternate name “woodchuck” is a corruption of the Algonquin name for the animal. Nothing at all to do with chucking wood. “Raccoon” is also derived from Algonquin, and the Algonquin name literally translates to “one who wanders by the shore.”

So what about Groundhog’s Day? February 2 is halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It was a sacred day for Pagans. Elliott explained the origin of the word “pagan” as “country folk” from ancient Roman times, as great cities developed around “monotheistic desert religions” the worshiped one God in the sky, and those still on the farm continued with their earth-based religions that centered on the seasons.

Elliott also explained that counterintuitive thing about the groundhog’s shadow. Early people were keen observers of nature. Bears and groundhogs had particular significance for them as intermediaries between Grandfather Sky and Grandmother Earth. Both of them disappeared into the earth in the fall and were presumed dead, but were reborn in the spring. The shadow is our darker self, which is only separated from us by death, the final and most peaceful sleep. If the groundhog comes out of hibernation and sees his shadow, it means that he has not completed his death cycle, and he is not yet ready to be reborn. So he goes back to sleep. Or something.

For people, February 2 was when you looked at what you had left, and hoped it was at least half of what you put by for the winter. We’re going to make it. I’d say we’re about halfway through the potatoes, although they’re starting to sprout, which means we will be in the Month of the Wrinkled Potatoes before long. We really, really overshot on the onions. I bet we haven’t eaten even a quarter of those. I had to clean out a rotten one and a sprouted one recently. I’ve seen more taking on that characteristic gotta-sprout-soon elongated form. Garlic? No shortage, and likely to start sprouting soon also.

And the freezers! I’ve been working on reducing the inventory. We’ve had so many suppers of Tundra Surprise lately that I can’t remember the last time I started a meal with raw meat. Stuffed peppers from September, baked tomato pasta sauce from August, stuffed cabbage from July, pot roast in wine sauce from October, chicken in stock from December, roast pork in gravy from the late Cretaceous, all served with a side of Brussels sprouts, corn, green beans, beets, cabbage, sauerkraut, or squash.

Sometimes it feels like work trying to get through all this food. And yet, it is a good problem to have. I try to remember to admire my plate when I sit down to eat and say to myself, “I grew these potatoes; I fed this chicken; I cleaned and blanched and froze these Brussels sprouts.” It makes me quietly proud.