Under current COVID-19 restrictions, the cliche of everyday being Groundhog Day has been mooted frequently. However this week, on 2nd February, marks the actual Groundhog Day.
An occasion citizen’s of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, observe the behaviour of local groundhogs as they emerge from their burrows. In particular their reactions to that day’s meteorological conditions. Folklore decreeing:-
If it’s cloudy on first leaving their burrows spring will arrive before the vernal equinox.
If it’s sunny then the groundhog will retreat into the burrow after seeing its shadow. Consequently, wintry conditions will prevail for another six weeks.
If it’s raining the groundhog will again retreat into the burrow. Re-emerging a few minutes later with wood, hammer and nails to build an ark. Indicating weeks of non-stop rain
Bereft of groundhogs in the West Yorkshire area, on 2nd February we’re not blessed with such useful meteorological indicators. That being said, when my now 27 year old daughter Rachel lived at home her reactions upon emerging from her room that day indicated the following:-
If Rachel emerged from her room dishevelled and grumpy, it rained until her birthday in the middle of March.
If she was happy, it would snow for a month in all equatorial nations.
If on emerging she politely greeted me with “Morning dad!”, that’d nothing to do with the weather, she was after a lift to work.
If my youngest offspring’s initial greeting of the day was “Stop arsing around all the time, dad!….. You absolutely do my head in!” that wasn’t a meteorological indicator either. Moreover a sign to give her a wide berth for the rest of the 2nd February.
————————————-
“Three o’clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do” – Jean-Paul Sartre
The above a philosophy bequeathed by the French writer and advocate of existentialism, Sartre, sprung to mind earlier, following my morning writing session plans being railroaded. This stick in the bicycle spokes manifesting in the shape of an unscheduled tarry to mater’s gaff; assisting her with a central heating system issue.
Consequently it’s mid-afternoon as I commence my daily bookish banter. A juncture of the day with which, on this particular day, I can relate to the first element of Sartre’s notion, ie that 3pm feels too late a time to commence this prose.
I’m always more creatively fertile and clearer of mind prior to midday. By mid afternoon epiphanies are harder to come across, subsequently I arrive at this juncture with diminishing ardour for the literary job at hand; meaning an infinitely more laboured writing process.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve written about a quarter of my 2,200+ blogs after midday, which’ve also received pleasing feedback received for morning monologues. However, from a personal viewpoint, I feel narratives written pre-12am are more accomplished from both a writing and ideas perspective. At that point decent notions flow like a fountain, not the insipid dribbles bequeathed by US showers, of which Donald Trump appears so irked.
Yesterday evening yours truly updated the aesthetics of my website https://strachan.blog. This long overdue revamp aimed at enhancing look, feeling and navigation of the domains content. If you so wish, navigate the new links, pages and posts, letting me know what you think of the site’s revision. All feedback is welcome….. Well, as long as the critique is positive.
