Groundhog Day and Keichitu
Do you know Groundhog Day?
I know there is “Groundhog Day” on the U.S calendar.
It is on February 2nd.
That is the day when the woodchuck comes out from hibernation.
It is said that if the day is fine, winter will continue for more six weeks.
This is because woodchuck is frightened by his own shadow and gets back his winter sleep.
If the day is cloudy, spring will come soon.
If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, winter will have another flight; if on Candlemas Day it be shower and rain, winter is gone, and will not come again.〔proverb〕
In contrasting this, we Japanese know Keichitu.
I think it comes from the Chinese calendar.
Kei,啓, means “to open” and chitu,蟄, means “warms”.
So, it is the day when warms come out from the ground.
It is on March 6th.
I think it’s wonderful to have similar feelings about the craving for spring.
As I live in the northern side of Japan, I have very harsh cold days in winter.
Do you have a similar day in your calendar?
I think I made a few deviations from the script, it is not written in an entirely natural way to speak English. You could try using Lang-8 to get someone to correct it before submitting it here to be recorded.
Also I think my pronunciation of Keichitu is wrong ><.