Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for February 04, 2021

Ah, this looks like it is going to be good. I like this new direction.

“Six of one, half a dozen of the other.”

Steve seems able to answer the tough questions with aplomb! He’s settling in for an interview with a smile and a cup of morning joe.

… Chancellor. Wow.

Depends on how you look at it? I’m sensing a “last horse on the merry-go-round” theme here, folks.

Ho boy… He’s one of those types. o.o;

The saying is “If the groundhog sees his shadow, winter will persist for six more weeks; but if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.”

Looks like Chancellor Hog is prepared to dodge the tough questions.

Maximum toe beans in panel 3!!!

Hi Georgia, I love Beatrix’s hat and Pucky’s toe beans.I hope you are feeling better. My husband had the same thing happen to him and it is terrifying.

Spin us a tale, Mr. Hog. This is your moment.

Tommy looks a little confused.

Hi, Steve.

What is that thing around Puck’s neck? Mr. Hog is quite a handsome little guy.

Steve has a good point: 6 weeks until spring = glass half full and 6 more weeks of nasty, cold winter = glass half empty. Poor Beatrix is up to her hips in the snow!

“Chancellor Hog” and “Mr. Cat” – well, at least they’re observing the civilities so far.

So, is Steve turning in for the day? Or is he going to get out of his jammies and do something?

Puxatanney Phil always looks like he just got pulled out of the shower. Also, when you see the guy who is always holding Puxatanney Phil, he looks like Steve the Groundhog, mustache and all, just wearing a top hat and scarf.

I like Steve’s attitude.

I think Steve a lawyer Ground Hog, and/or, a politician Ground Hog.

Sit down and let me demonstrate how much larger Rhode Island is than Texas. “Statistics”, my tripedal interlocutor!

Hey Steve! Did you know there is a hedge, in a comic strip movie, named after you?

What a magnificent moustache Steve has!

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

Puckmosis: So what you’re saying, Sir Phil-Adelph, is that this day is to determine a menu?

Phil-Adelph: Call me Phil. As for the tradition, let me tell you a story.

Story: Many years ago, King Catfu declared a day of celebration for the completion of the Great Pyramid.

King Catfu: It’s a beautiful structure. After twenty years of construction, I wish to have a feast for all of Egypt.

Royal Prime Minister Mewoser: And would you like to serve at the feast?

King Catfu: That is a good question. Another question is what we are going to do with the pyramid not that it’s built.

Meowser: Why don’t we call for the Royal Chef, Floofnet for suggestions.

King Catfu: Does he know anything about pyramids?

Meowser: No, but he’s a darn good chef.

Enter Floofnet with his friend Groundhog Stevesiris

Floofnet: You summoned, Your Majesty?

King Catfu: Yes. I have decreed we will have a banquet to celebrate the completion of the Great Pyramid to be served throughout the land.

Floofnet: Excellent, Your Majesty. It so happens I have ham and bacon in vast quantity. It always seems to work out that whenever I need an ingredient, it is available in the Royal Pantry.

King Catfu: And for dessert?

Stevesiris The day is overcast, and I don’t see my shadow. Why not have a bright dessert to symbolize the lack of shadows?

Floofnet: Excellent! I will make my Cake of the Angels and have strawberries and whipped cream.

Meowser: Why not celebrate every year? If you do see your shadow, we will have chocolate cake and hot fudge sundaes!

King Catfu: A wonderful suggestion! So let it be decreed!

At the banquet

O.T. Two items from Georgia’s Facebook. (1) A reminder the Zazzle store has Valentine’s Day things. (2) Groundhog Day 2019. Cute slogan and an enormous plus (that is also a real time sink – you have been warned) Go forward a day and you have The Boy naming the cats. Go another day and you have the arc that introduces Beatrix! Here is the link or just start at Feb 2, 2019 https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2019/02/02?ct=v&cti=1923582&fbclid=IwAR3b0wysqeZTD0G5Npv1WsY9cRPvZze4M8kbqh6Jxy5LjQV_PpjyRzZteAM

Ah the moment of truth we have all been waiting for

i thought his name was Phil?

the first day of spring never changes really

OT: Mom update

Wait- there’s a RI groundhog? Named Steve?

Feb. 2 is the first day of spring in the Pacific Northwest. In my opinion.

Georgia, if you’re making early preparations for the 2022 calendar, that last panel would be the perfect February cover. Or if not, then it needs to go on a mug, towel, t-shirt, sweatshirt and/or fridge magnet!

Actually, spring doesn’t immediately follow winter. In between the two is Mud.

I see over on Mutts that today is National Mail Carriers Day, hope Elvis takes note! Also, O.T.

Wow, this guy is a true pundit.

Georgia posted some pictures of the cats. Two of them also feature a owl vase and the cuckoo clock:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK2-PTVJ-Nz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK2zkn4p61N/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK2yrlpphVl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Sees his shadow – 6 more weeks of winter

no see his shadow – a month and a half until spring

OK, true tale… Groundhogs can climb trees (they belong to the rodent family of ground squirrels), but they are not very agile in them. They are also absolutely mental about walnuts, and will climb to try and obtain them if all the walnuts on the ground have been eaten. They fall out of the walnuts trees… A LOT! A fall of 10 to 15 feet doesn’t seem to bother them and most of the time they are right back up the tree after the oh so coveted walnuts. This means if you are relaxing in my back yard in early autumn, you know the groundhogs are out by the sound they make when they fall out of a walnut tree and hit the ground. Its a resounding “FUPP”!! **crickets-frogs-cicadas FUPP! Birds- cicadas-FUPP! FUPP!…" until dark

I thought his name was Phil?

It is not the same 6 weeks as the 6 more weeks of winter are on top of the 6 weeks until Spring

Steve, the Philosopher Groundhog.

Woo hoo! Rhode Island gets a mention!! Today Breaking Cat News, tomorrow the White House!

Ah, time for Sonny Boy Williamson I’s “Groundhog Blues.” “I’m that walkin’ groundhog, in the ground is where I make my den. If I walk outside and see my shadow I believe I’ll go back in.”

Consistent with Rhode Island culture. Your average Rhode Islander has referred to prior governors as “Joe” (Garrahy), “Ed” (DiPrete), “Bruce” (Sundlun) … and, more recently, the future Secretary of Commerce, “Gina.”

And then there’s the late former mayor of Providence, who I have never, in my entire lifetime, heard addressed or referred to as anything other than “Mayor” or “Buddy.”

So a Steve joke….

A guy is in the stands watching a baseball game. Someone about 10 rows up yells “Hey Steve” The guy turns around, sees the shouter sit back down….a little while later he hears “Hey Steve!!!!” same thing…now he’s getting annoyed… the shouter yells again “Hey Steve!!!” finally can’t take it anymore….the Guy stands up and yells back “My name’s not Steve!!!!!”

“what I told you was true, from a certain point of view… you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”

If the weather turns milder in February and March, it certainly might seem that Spring is early. Of course, those clouds might mean rain instead of snow. Soggy, boggy, but milder temps!

It seems that Steve’s Spring predicting ability is about as useful as a woodchuck’s wood chucking ability!

Pucky you are so polite and you layout your question so well!

No, it doesn’t. Go back to the six more weeks of winter weather, that is different from six weeks of winter.

When they say an early spring or six more weeks of winter, they are discussing whether the rest of February and the beginning of March will feel like winter or spring. Basically early spring means that in the next few days after the main part of winter in that region, it will quickly feel like spring (start sometime in February) as opposed to six more weeks which means wintry feeling through months until around the equinox. What I mean about regions is in some areas the main part of winter is over in early February to early March and the “six more weeks of winter” extends that into mid-March to early April.

I can resist no longer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXbW70c2lsU Ground Hog: Arlo Guthrie and Shenandoah, 1984

Steve makes a good point.

The groundhog at the Milwaukee County Zoo did not see his shadow. But with a back-to-back storm system coming through, I highly doubt spring will be early.

So here in West Texas there is a poem written by Frank Grimes, a local newspaper editor in 1928 that explains when it’s REALLY spring.

The Old Mesquites Ain’t Out

We see signs of returning spring-

The redbird’s back and fie’ larks sing.

The ground’s plowed up and the creeks run clear,

The onions sprout and the rose buds near;

And yet they’s a point worth thinkin’ about-

We note that the old mesquites ain’t out!

The fancier trees are in full bloom,

The grass is green and the willows boom,

The colt’s kick up and the calves bend down,

And the spring’s a-pear-ently come to town;

And yet they’s a point worth thinkin’ about-

We note that the old mesquites ain’t out!

Well it may be spring for all we know-

There ain’t no ice and there ain’t no snow,

It looks like spring and it smells so too,

The cal-en-dar says it’s plenty true-

And yet they’s a point worth thinkin’ about-

We note that the old mesquites ain’t out!

Frank Grimes 1928

It is time to have some coffee, go to the bathroom, and go back to bed until sap comes up in the trees and sprouts start popping up.