2.02.2012

thankful thursday

ode to groundhog day_5

i was going to name the next-in-line of my alliterative-titled weekday posts "thoughtful thursday" or "think-about-it thursday"... i had some recent thoughts and themes running through my head that i wanted to write out. but then i remembered it is groundhog day today, and i remembered how i like to write about it on my blog, because i grew up in woodstock, where the loved movie groundhog day was filmed. so instead, my post is "thankful thursday"!

"thankful?" you might ask. "why thankful?" well, because the groundhog saw his shadow on this fine morning!

i know... that's normally a bad thing, right? and when i say "right?", i'm really asking... i'm right, right? i can never remember if you want him to see his shadow or not... which of the two means a shorter winter? oh, well. no mind, because like the article i read stated, the groundhog is wrong 40% of time in his {or her} prediction anyway. and i say "his", because in the famous movie, punxatawney's prognosticator is a he... punxatawney phil. anyway, who knows whether or not this year's groundhog was a he or she. if it was not a she, maybe it's high time we get a female in office! *wink*

anyway, i am thankful, because no matter how much more winter we truly have {the calendar says almost seven weeks until the first official day of spring}, it has been a very mild and easy-to-deal-with winter in my neck of the woods compared to our typical chicago winters. in fact, the past few days, temps have made it into the upper 40s... even lower 50s. i think bill murray's weatherman character would say that's "unseasonably warm". i'll take it! and honestly, when you are cooped up inside with a little one all winter, that is a real treat!

i think i'll take isaac to the pool today! maybe not. but we can at least venture out on a walk in conditions like these. before we know it, we'll be out strolling amongst all the blooming trees like you see in the photo above.

oh, i can not wait!

well, if you are as much of a groundhog day enthusiast as i am {i simply adore that movie}, you can see more about the town it was filmed in here... a fun little web site about my hometown and its festival called groundhog days, which has been held there every year since the movie was filmed.

here are a few more photos {from a few years ago}. they were taken at {or near} woodstock's historic downtown square where the movie was predominantly filmed {and where i got married in autumn over eleven years ago}. by the way, this year is the 20th anniversary of the first showing of that movie {which also debuted in woodstock}. that just makes me feel old! *sad face*

ode to groundhog day_2
this is the house {just outside the town square} that was used for the exterior view of the bed and breakfast inn that bill murray's character stayed in day after day in the story. i lived in a house about a block from this one for about six years.

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on the left: the woodstock opera house... remember the scene where bill murray's character jumps from the tower in an attempt to put an end to his reliving of the same awful day over and over? this is the building they used. on the right: this is the historic jail house. the restaurant downstairs was used for one of the scenes in the movie.

ode to groundhog day_1
here is the famous gazebo {in the exact center of the square} where the groundhog ceremony takes place... also made famous by me and my husband in 2000, when we got married underneath with family and eighty of our closest friends. *wink*


there you have it! i'll have to share my deep thoughts with you some other day. today, i'm just thankful for a mild winter, a return of days that see the sun setting after five o'clock p.m. {as of january 21st}, and the coming spring to look forward to. {it's nice to see a photo with growth on the trees while in the dead of winter, no?}

what are you thankful for today?

12 comments:

S. Etole said...

What fun and quaint buildings. I'm thankful for the extremely mild winter we have had.

georgia b. said...

ah, yes, susan... i've heard you've had it pretty good up by you, too. seems a lot of areas have been lucky to escape typical winter this year. after the past few, it's a nice, welcome break!

leanne can blog said...

I do remember all those buildings from that movie, how fun. Glad you've had a mild winter- we're summer at the moment & it's cold & rainy today!

Steve Gravano said...

We've had a very mild winter in on Long Island. It snowed one Saturday and it was all gone by Monday. Can't complain, I'm grateful with the price of home heating oil as high as it is. Thanks for the tour, now I'll have to hulu the movie to refresh my failing memory.

Kim Stevens said...

I grew up in the burbs of Chicago - the tri-city area. My entire family and husband's family are all still there, and I'm glad that my mom hasn't had to deal with bad weather. But...I'm hoping the mild winters don't mean a doosy of a hurricane season for me!

Kmcblackburn said...

What a gorgeous town! Hate to admit this but I've never seen the movie "Groundhog Day". I need to. I've never understood why SEEING his shadow means more winter? It's the SUN causing the shadow for goodness sakes. Shouldn't that be a GOOD thing?

Kathy

stacey said...

This was so fun to read! I remember you saying something once about growing up in the same town and getting married there, but so fun to see the photos!

I am so thankful for a mild winter, too. It has made all the difference this year!

Thinking of you, friend. xo

georgia b. said...

leanne... i forget that not everyone is in the middle of winter. sometimes it's easy to think of the whole world in the same season that you are in. i hope you are enjoying your summer... especially for the rest of us! =)

yes, steve... i agree. the low heat bills is another really great thing to be thankful for, especially in this economy! my gas bill this month was under $25!

kim... i hope our good winter doesn't make for a bad hurricane season for you. the south has had some rough years, and i hope it's not another one this year.

kathy... yes, you absolutely have to see that movie! i didn't like it a ton the first time i saw it, but it grew on me each of the times i saw it after that... until i grew to really love it!

stacey... yes, a mild winter can make it so much more bearable, and it helps make it go by so much more quickly!

Candace said...

What a beautiful little town. I thought it looked pretty from your nighttime Christmas photos there and this convinces me! I've never been there although I lived in Rockford the first 9 years of my life, my paternal grandparents lived in Chicago, we later moved to South Bend, and I have been to many Chicago 'burbs.

I'm glad of your mild winter because my elderly mom insists on staying in South Bend instead of moving to sunny AZ where our winters are always mild but the summers suck bigtime.

georgia b. said...

thank you, candace! these are actually from the town where i grew up, rather than the town where i now live {which is where the nighttime christmas photos were taken}. but they are both quaint towns... especially in the historic downtown areas.

i'm glad it's mild here for your mom, too. let's hope the rest of the winter stays that way!

Leah C said...

I'm thankful for the mild winter, too:) Of course, I'm still ready for spring to get here...the sooner the better! I so enjoy your blog; so, I guess you could say I'm thankful for it, as well;)

Evelyn S. said...

It's Saturday, but I'm thankful for your "Thankful Thursday."
Beautiful images!