I hate the groundhog.

There I said it, I’m outing myself.

Now, now, before my animal rights friends or lovers of singing in the rain get offended, allow me to explain.

I’m quite simply over the winter and storm watch 2016/2017. Our days as a family of praying for rain have long passed and as I watch cities evacuated, hill sides collapse and countless friends share home casualties, my simple defense mechanism is – I hate the groundhog.

It should be noted, that this is shared with a bit tongue-in-cheek of an approach to my weekly column. As I write this the world around us is blowing high, low, over and under. Storm watch it would seem just continues to plague us.

I rarely pay much attention to the ever popular Groundhog Day. Oh sure, we talk about it as a family, the kids think it’s fun and often speculate over what they think Punxsutawney Phil might see.

For the past four to five years, I’ve been at peace with the notion of him spotting his shadow and six more weeks of winter. But alas, the drought has officially been declared over, my winter wardrobe has been exhausted, we’ve broken all umbrellas and I miss the sun.

We’ve played a lot of board games, I’ve done my fair share of purging/spring cleaning (in the dead of winter), but I miss the park and I miss the sun.

Yes, I know there are likely readers reading and wondering ‘is this the biggest problem in this girl’s life?’ For those who I’ve irritated by my rant I’ll simply state, I wish.

What I equally realize, however, is that I’m not alone in my wish for Spring to be here sooner rather than later. Even though Spring brings with it the joys of allergy suffering, I’ll gladly take it.

On the bright side, I have enjoyed the varying rainbows we’ve been treated to. They’ve been in abundance as well as bright as ever. I’ve also enjoyed sneaking in a run or two before the winds and showers beat down too hard. There’s something about running in the rain that takes me back to childhood, puddle jumping, splashing and all.

But Phil, I’ve got to tell you, seeing your shadow back on Feb. 2 and wishing this on us for six more weeks is just plain unacceptable. I miss the sun.

So here’s to brighter days ahead, literally I hope. The return of light dressing and a pair of flip flops or two. For our out of state readers, plagued by snow, Godspeed. I wish the same for you. After all it is scientifically proven that natural Vitamin D is beneficial to one’s longevity and well as demeanor.

And there you have it, perhaps if we had just a bit more sun I would not be so harsh as to state ‘I hate the groundhog,’ yet for today – I truly do.

Teresa Hammond is a staff reporter for The Oakdale Leader, The Riverbank News and The Escalon Times. She may be reached at thammond@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 847-3021.