Holiday – Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“I like to compare the holiday season
with the way a child listens to a favorite story.
The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins,
the anticipation of familiar turns it takes,
the familiar moments of suspense, and
the familiar climax and ending.”
Fred Rogers

Holiday's Past

The day after Christmas I found myself watching old Christmas TV shows and movies, like The Twilight Zone and A Christmas Story. I watched an episode of The Twilight Zone from 1960 that I’ve watched maybe a dozen times, but this time I saw the story in a whole new light.

Rod Serling is a favorite writer of mine for a very long time. My admiration for Serling stems from his ability to take a short story about an individual and make you care what happens to that person. He could show humanity in so many different lights. Always subtly weaving into each story a political or human antidote.

In the violent world we live in today, watching old Christmas shows and movies gives us a feeling of comfort. We’re familiar with the story. We know how it ends. Yet as an adult, each time we watch, we see something new or different. Each time we learn something new about ourselves and about holiday’s past.

Shine On

“You want a prediction about the weather,
you’re asking the wrong Phil.
I’ll give you a winter prediction:
It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey,
and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.”
Phil from the movie, “Groundhog Day”

The poster from the 1993 “Groundhog Day”.

It’s Groundhog Day everyone ! Actually, before 1993, when the movie, “Groundhog Day” came out and became such a big hit, I never paid much attention to this day.

I’m pretty sure everyone will watch this movie at least once today, if not several times.

This twenty-two year old movie, is so chock-full of funny lines, you gotta watch it more than once. It’s classic Harold Ramis humor.

Whether you live in Southern California or Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, everyone around the world will be watching the 129th prognostication by Phil. How often is Phil correct? Well they say he’s 100% accurate, most of the time. Whatever that means.

Punxsutawney Phil at the 2015 Groundhog Day Celebration.

According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

In my opinion what we really need is an East and West Coast Phil. If we did have two Phil’s, my bet is for us West Coast residents, Phil won’t see his shadow. But for those living on the East Coast, Phil will definitely be seeing his shadow on Groundhog Day.

Shine On.