Fed up with Phil

The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive. Here he was buried in the belly of that smothering month, wondering if he would ever find his way through the cold coils that lay between here and Easter.
It was a monstrous month, that was for sure. A dire and dreary month. The pleasures of Christmas, both sharp and sweet, were already dimming in Harvey’s memory, and the promise of summer was so remote as to be mythical.

-Clive Barker, The Thief of Always

When I first read about Harvey Swick’s dreary existence inside the dreary month of February, I was sure that Clive Barker might secretly be an Oregonian.
Oregon Februarys (Februaries?) are usually painful.
Cold. Wet. Gray.
I’ve often asked myself how a month with only 28(ish) days can last so incredibly long?
Readers, I have discovered that this guy is to blame:

No, not that guy.
The cute little chubby guy.
Um…the cute little chubby guy with no hat.
Once again he has seen his shadow, dooming the world to six more week of cold and wet.
But here in Oregon, we’ve had enough. No longer will we sit content under his tiny clawed thumb of tyranny. We say spring is here now!
To prove it, here are a few shots taken this weekend:



What say you, other weary sufferers of winter? Will you stand with me to throw off the shackles of this overgrown rat? Will you, like us, dare to demand a return of the sun?
We have won the first battle, but the war is far from over. Should Punxsutawney Phil marshal his troops and hit us with more snow, sleet, ice and cold, cold rain I’ll unleash this on him:

GROUNDHOG AND SWEET POTATOES

1 Groundhog
Cold water
Salt
Pepper
Sweet potatoes or white potatoes
Cornbread

The animal should be dressed as soon as possible and well soaked for several hours in cold, salty water. All excess fat may be trimmed off after the meat is cold. Parboil to remove and remaining fat and drain well. Place in a moderate oven and pack sweet potatoes or even white
potatoes all around. Salt and pepper the meat and bake unti brown. Be sure the potatoes are thoroughly cooked. Serve with cornbread and use the heavy gravy that forms during baking.

Recipe found on gamecalls.net

You’re going down Phil. It’s on.