Is it for real or just some folklore?

Dwain Walden

On one of the coldest days in January, someone called me to talk about the robins all over town. I’m not really sure what I was supposed to do about them. I said that I was in favor of robins even though they had pooped all over my car.

“Aren’t robins a sign of spring,” she asked.

Well, I’ve always heard that, except that in the past few years I’ve noticed robins around here from December to March. So either the robins are very confused or this thing about robins and spring is hogwash.

So I went to Google and asked this question. What I concluded is that robins are not a definite sign of spring any more than a brown thrasher, a cardinal, a chickadee or an armadillo.

One site said that spring often occurs after a sighting of a large number of robins. Well, yes, the next spring will always occur after a sighting of a large number of robins. It will also occur after breakfast, lunch and the evening news. It’s just a matter of how long afterward.

I think sometimes we confuse folklore and reality. For instance, I don’t buy into that Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) thing. Supposedly if he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, it means an early spring.

But it’s all relevant to where you live anyway. For instance, spring in North Dakota and Idaho is still cold enough to freeze your bohonkus off.

If there is anything to a groundhog predicting the weather, then just put his cage under a big shade tree and no matter when he comes out, he won’t see his shadow. But if you are hosting the Winter Olympics, cut the darn tree down .

I don’t think animals predict winter or summer . I think they prepare about the same all the time. For instance, I’ve never looked at a squirrel ’s nest and saw anything that would indicate any kind of weather extreme.

It’s said that they store more nuts if a winter is going to be harsh. Well, I don’t know how many they would store for a mild winter for comparison, nor do I know where they store them to make a count.

Like I said, I think a lot of this stuff comes from folklore. And besides, no matter how harsh the winter is in South Georgia, it would look like spring to the folks up in Fargo.

But for the record, I am rather tired of our winter. I’m ready for some hot July nights when the whip o’ whil is singing and the fireflies are lighting up the back yard.

Back to the robins and groundhogs. I don’t know what the time frame is on establishing folklore. What I mean is, I don’t know how far back it had to have begun to be classified as folklore. I’m pretty sure it was back before the Dow Jones was invented or else on Channel 60 they would have fuzzy critters running around the graphs and pie charts and the prognosticators would be chopping the heads off chickens to read the blood splatter.

Also, I don’t know the difference between folklore and old wives’ tales. Someone asked me one day why didn’t we have “old husbands’ tales.” I said we do. They just call them lies.

(Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer, 98-4545. Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)

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