A Pandemic Groundhog Party

Normally I’d be gearing up for my annual Groundhog Day celebration tonight. Each year, we have around 15-25 people over for the party. These days, it usually consists of a groundhog themed potluck. Sweet and savory deliciousness, followed by a white elephant/Yankee swap (that’s ideally groundhog themed as well). The bar for a successful Groundhog Day party is blessedly low, of course, and I’ve found that in Maine, it doesn’t take much for people to feel like that had a fun time in February. The rush of the Christmas holidays are gone, and we need as many reasons to celebrate as we can come up with.

This year, we need that more than ever, of course. And we’re not going to get it, alas. I had hoped to be able to have an uninterrupted Groundhog Day, but it wasn’t in the cards. Thankfully, Mother Nature stepped in and gave the entire family a snow day, so we all had the day off. And while I can’t have friends over, I do have plenty of family in my house to celebrate with.

So what will we be doing? In case you’re looking for a way to party hearty tonight, here’s what we’ve got scheduled:

• Livestream of the Groundhog prognostication. Denisa and I watched it live this morning at 7:20. Yes, he saw his shadow, and yes, it was a socially distant event. A far cry from the typical craziness. (When we told MC that meant there’d be six more weeks of winter, she was very disappointed. “I was hoping for eight more weeks,” she said. We’ve raised her right.)
• One on one time with each of the kids getting to choose what they want to do:
  • Tomas and I will be playing a round of Gloomhaven
  • Daniela and I will be making groundhog cupcakes
  • Michaela and I will be playing Minecraft together
• There will be the annual Groundhog Games of Skill. This year, I think there’ll be some groundhog charades, and we might have a “draw a groundhog with your eyes closed” contest. Yes, there will be prizes.
• Denisa is making pizza for dinner
• We’ll have the annual viewing of the movie, as well. Popcorn will likely be involved.

It doesn’t take much to make the day feel different and special. (Though obviously the snow day helps, it doesn’t help as much as it might in a normal year. I mean, we’ve had pleeeeenty of time at home over the past year, if you know what I mean.)

Hopefully today’s Groundhog Day finds you all in good health and pleasant spirits.

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