Ready for Spring?

Today, the second day of February, is Groundhog Day but if you live in Southern Nevada it is Tortoise Day. The holiday is celebrated a little differently here.

In the Midwest, according to lore, if the groundhog emerges from his burrow on February 2 and sees his shadow, he will be frightened back into his hole, signaling another six weeks of winter. A cloudy day -- and no shadow -- means winter will end early. Since 1887, the groundhog has not seen his shadow only 14 times, compared to 96 times when he saw his shadow.

In Southern Nevada,we are not too concerned about winters as Midwesterns. We can wait for Mojave Max, our tortoise, to emerge from his burrow, even if it’s in April. When he finally decides to poke his heads out of the burrow,he'll look around, and if conditions are not right, he'll go back down. We just have to hope that Mojave Max has not died over the winter or we'll be waiting a long time for spring.