Category: Essex Ed Groundhog Day Parade

within the grip of winter

image credit: jull at pixabay

Within the grip of winter, it is almost impossible to imagine the spring. The gray perished landscape is shorn of color. Only bleakness meets the eye; everything seems severe and edged. Winter is the oldest season; it has some quality of the absolute. Yet beneath the surface of winter, the miracle of spring is already in preparation; the cold is relenting; seeds are wakening up. Colors are beginning to imagine how they will return. Then, imperceptibly, somewhere one bud opens and the symphony of renewal is no longer reversible. From the black heart of winter a miraculous, breathing plenitude of color emerges.
~ John O’Donohue
(To Bless the Space Between Us)

Groundhog Day was one of our favorite holidays. We had a tradition of taking our groundhog stuffy outside to see (or to not see) his shadow. We named him Basil (Wasyl) after my grandfather, who was born in Ukraine on February 2, 1882. By 2014 Basil had a companion, who was at first named Basil, Jr. At some point Tim, with his endless sense of humor, started calling the little one Oregano, and it stuck.

I cannot bear to continue this tradition without my beloved. So I decided to dig up some of the pictures I took of it over the years, in memory of Tim. I am definitely within the grip of winter, the one outside and a winter of grief. I still can’t imagine how a future without him will ever feel like spring.

Tim, Oregano & Basil bird-watching together (2025, Bolin Forest)
this turned out to be our last Groundhog Day together
definite shadows (2024, North Carolina Botanical Garden)
Tim waiting for the parade to begin with Basil & Oregano
(2023, Essex Ed Groundhog Day Parade)
fun in the snow (2022, Haley Farm State Park)
by the sea (2019, Eastern Point Beach)
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
Tim waiting with the Basils
(2014, Essex Ed Groundhog Day Parade)

Basil, Oregano and I will stay inside and light a candle this year.

groundhogs and antique cars

groundhog
image credit:
Groundhog Greetings

We recently discovered there is a festive parade in the town of Essex, Connecticut, on Groundhog Day! (February 2) It was fun to see people from near and far celebrating the occasion (also known as Candlemas and Imbolc) by wearing groundhog hats, watching the parade, and then following the procession while banging on pots and pans brought from home. It’s nice to have a holiday to brighten up the season between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox!

If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.
~ Scottish Proverb

We brought our groundhog, Basil, and his new son, Basil, Jr., along with us. The day was not bright and clear in Essex so perhaps there will be only “one” winter this year.  Enjoy the parade!

2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
Tim waiting with the Basils ~ 2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
all the way from Long Island, New York ~ 2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
a well prepared spectator ~ 2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
a little too cold for surfing, if you ask me ~ 2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
all the way from Michigan! ~ 2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
the shadow knows ~ 2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut
2.2.14 ~ Essex, Connecticut

Next year I will try to get a few pictures of all the folks clanging on their pots and pans!