Kentucky Weather-Predicting Groundhog Dies on Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day just passed and per the nation's official weather-predicting rodent, Punxsutawney Phil out of Pennsylvania, we are getting an early spring.  This is excellent news, however, the weather prediction rodent community suffered an ironic loss in Kentucky on the 2024 Groundhog Day.

A little-known fact about Groundhog Day is that most states have their own groundhog predicters, primarily in state wildlife rescue organizations. For instance, North Carolina boasts not one but two celebrity groundhogs, Tater and Yammy.  Sadly, Kentucky's official weather predicting groundhog, a nearly 10-year-old male named Major died after handing off the reigns to prediction duties

"Sadly, and most ironically, Major passed away peacefully overnight. Groundhog Day. His day," Second Chances Wildlife Center said in an Instagram post. "He was making his impact. We knew this was coming. His passing was due to age (almost 10) and heart issues brought on by age. He was full of amazing energy up until the end."

Major was just about to retire, this being his final year of predicting before he turned things over to his protégé, a younger groundhog named Josie Burrow (named after Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow).

A life well lived for a groundhog who passed doing the thing he loved doing the most, predicting the weather.  R.I.P, little guy.

It should come as no surprise that the Harry Potter books and series are very near and dear to my heart. This series is literally my life. I picked up the first book when I was in 4th grade and picked up the last when I graduated High School. Growing up alongside these characters has made an indelible mark on my life.

I know that everyone has a different impression of Harry Potter and what it means. The permanent mark the stories have left for me is that friendship, bravery and love can always bring you to light even in the middle of darkness.

The infamous trio of Ron, Hermione and Harry represented countless friendships I've had across the years. Harry was always the brave yet naive ring leader. Hermione acted as the wise and loving one. And Ron, while hilarious, was the glue and safety for the group.

Of course we met so many other amazing characters along the way: Dobby the house elf, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Mad Eye Moody, Professor McGonagall, and don't forget the more evil characters like Draco Malfoy, Peter Pettigrew, and Voldemort himself!

The twists, turns and revelations in these books kept me hooked the entire time. I was always ready for the next book and sad I had to wait years for it to be released. I remember crying buckets as I read about the Battle of Hogwarts in book 7 and lost some of my favorite characters. My heart ached and I grieved for them as if they were my real friends.

But that right there is the power of reading. The world we so easily dive into and become attached to. The characters we love and feel for. The plots we are captivated by. That is why I love the Harry Potter books so deeply. That is why I come back over and over again to read the books.

This is our first introduction to the wizarding world of Harry Potter. We meet so many central characters to the book. We meet our famous trio and learn about Hogwarts. The first book is truly the kickoff and the nostalgia alone makes it my number 1 choice.

The 3rd installment in the series is my favorite movie interpretation! I only ranked the book in my 2nd position on the list because it's hard to deny that the first book is what sets up the story and gets us hooked in the first place. I love the characters we meet that connect Harry to his parents and the storyline is one of my favorites.

Again, the 7th book is high on my list because of the storyline. So many of our questions are answered. This is the closing of our story. The book is massive but I remember reading through it like a breeze!

The 6th book offered up a little more humor after some darker moments in the series. It was a really nice break for the brain and made me smile. Other memorable moments include learning about Voldemort's younger years, meeting Professor Slughorn, and the setup that would lead us into the last book!

Harry's second year at Hogwarts is causing even more trouble! I love that he becomes a little more accustomed to what to expect from Hogwarts and the wizarding world around him. His friendships continue to solidify. And oh yeah, he can hear and talk to snakes!

Ok hear me out... this book was LARGE! As a kid, holding a brick of a book in my hand for the first time seemed daunting. Even though I loved Harry Potter more than anything, the book took me forever to read at the time. As an adult, I'm a lot more lenient of the size of the books as they progress. That said, my only joy in this particular book came from meeting kids from other wizarding schools.

Ah book 5. My absolute least favorite book. Harry Potter was just the worst kind of human in this book (we later find out for good reason...) He constantly had attitude and was just a moody teenager. It made it hard to be in his corner and root for him. Reading this book was like pulling teeth for me. Definitely my least favorite of the 7 books in the series.