The Sky This Week, 2011 February 1 – 8 — Naval Oceanography Portal

February 2nd is one of our more popular "semi-holidays", Groundhog Day. It is similar in character to Halloween in that most everybody is aware of it and "observes" it in some fashion, but they’re not really sure why they do. … Groundhog day falls mid-way between the winter solstice and the Vernal equinox … [T]he roots of Groundhog Day date back well over a thousand years to an early Christian feast known as Candlemas. This was one of the so-called "cross-quarter" days of ancient timekeeping tradition, which, along with the quarterly seasonal markers, were the dates when serfs paid rent to their feudal lords. Halloween is the other cross-quarter day that’s still widely observed here in America, and Europeans still observe May Day. Lammas, the final cross-quarter day, falls on August 1st, which is the traditional start of summer vacation days in many parts of the world.

The Sky This Week, 2011 February 1 – 8 — Naval Oceanography Portal