You have heard of Groundhog's Day (February 2nd), you might have seen the Bill Murray/Andie MacDowell movie called "Groundhog's Day," but have you ever really seen the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil other than on that day? Well, here he is from today...
Punxsutawney Phil
No, he is not dead! He was sleeping when we visited the little zoo he lives in. This is something most groundhogs do during the day, so kinda expected.
The zoo is in the library (so a quiet place) and has windows from both the outside (in case the library isn't open) and from the inside. So just a shot of one of the most famous rodents on the planet sleeping away.
The zoo is in the library (so a quiet place) and has windows from both the outside (in case the library isn't open) and from the inside. So just a shot of one of the most famous rodents on the planet sleeping away.
Sculpture outside of the Civic Center
The Library and Groundhog Zoo are part of the Punxsutawney Civic Center. Inside are also things like the police department, but the grounds around the Civic Center are interesting.
Here we have a random statue of a Native American, seemingly with a weapon of war and a peace pipe. The duality of mankind comes to mind. But the sign says, "Punxsutawney, name of Indian Origin." Yet it does not say what the word Punxsutawney actually means in the Native tongue.
According to http://punxypa.com/ it means:
"According to tradition, Punxsutawney was an Indian village before the advent of the European settlers in America. The name Punxsutawney means "sand-fly" place," the Indian word for sand-fly being "ponki", So, the Indians called the place - Ponsutenink, i.e. 'the town of the ponkis.' The vermin were so small as not to be seen, and their bite being hot as sparks of fire."
And thus we learn that the town is named after a nasty biting fly. Maybe that's why this information isn't on the plaque.
Here we have a random statue of a Native American, seemingly with a weapon of war and a peace pipe. The duality of mankind comes to mind. But the sign says, "Punxsutawney, name of Indian Origin." Yet it does not say what the word Punxsutawney actually means in the Native tongue.
According to http://punxypa.com/ it means:
"According to tradition, Punxsutawney was an Indian village before the advent of the European settlers in America. The name Punxsutawney means "sand-fly" place," the Indian word for sand-fly being "ponki", So, the Indians called the place - Ponsutenink, i.e. 'the town of the ponkis.' The vermin were so small as not to be seen, and their bite being hot as sparks of fire."
And thus we learn that the town is named after a nasty biting fly. Maybe that's why this information isn't on the plaque.
WWII Memorial outside Punxsutawney Civic Center
The WWII memorial is pretty original.
The logo on a police car parked at the Civic Center
Years ago, the police used to have this logo, much bigger, on the side of their cruisers. I may remember things wrong as it was a lot of years ago when I lived in Punxsy, but I remember that they had to change things as the logos kept getting stolen off the cruisers as they are, face it, quit a souvenir. It even looks like this little one on the front of a cruiser has had an attempt to remove it.
A bench with a message
And finally, a bench. It seems to have a message. You should not move, but sit. This could mean that you should slow down and sit and watch the world a while and observe it. Or it is an ad for the folks at the "big People" clothing stores to encourage more customers. Maybe it is to remind locals not to move out of the area as they have it pretty good in Punxsutawney. Likely it just means that you should not screw around with the location of the bench. But no matter, once you sit on the bench, if you follow the rules, you will be there forever.
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