Welcome Beautiful/Anonymous listeners!
If you’re a listener to the popular podcast Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People with Chris Gethard and you’re visiting the site after the latest episode, welcome! Maybe you’re already a fan of Groundhog Day, or maybe you know nothing about the holiday, but I’m glad to have you here! Besides visiting this site, you can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for future updates.
Feel free to look around, and take in all of the Groundhog Day goodness. (I’m not sure if the site will easily handle the potential influx of BA listeners, so please be patient if things load slowly or if you encounter errors. Just try and reload the page, Ira Glass!)
As discussed on the episode, I’ve compiled what is absolutely the largest list of Groundhog Day forecasters anywhere on or off the Internet. I hope that you’ll check it out and learn more about the various animals that help predict the weather every February 2nd. I know that Beautiful/Anonymous has listeners from all over the world, so if you know of a weather predictor that I don’t have on the list, please send me an email to let me know. You can also use that email address to send me any feedback or Groundhog Day ideas you might have for inclusion on the site.
Chris and I discussed the Groundhog Day carols that I wrote, which are mainly takeoffs of public domain songs. We spoke about the theoretical possibility of Shellshag recording one of the songs. I don’t know if that’ll actually happen, but if you are a musician and want to record your own rendition of any of them, please do so and share with me.
Looking for the puzzles we talked about, where you have to find Ned Ryerson in a sea of Bill Murrays? You can find those here, as well as a puzzle where you have to find a groundhog in a sea of Bill Murrays. Word searches and Word fill in the blanks can be found here.
Chris and I also talked about the possibility of me coming up with some Beautiful/Anonymous related Groundhog Day designs. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far: Beautiful/Groundhogs, Sorry Sally, It’s not Groundhog Day Yet!, Sorry Sally, it’s not *@%ing Groundhog Day yet!, Sorry Sally, There’s going to be 6 more weeks of Winter, Sorry Sally, there’s going to be 6 more *@%ing weeks of Winter, Sorry Sally, it’s going to be an early Spring, and Sorry Sally, it’s going to be an early *@%ing Spring. All very clever, I know.
Here’s a couple of products with the Beautiful/Groundhogs design on them:
If you have any other ideas, let me know. You can also check out the other Groundhog Day merchandise I have in the shop. We also spoke about some of the other designs I’ve put together, not Groundhog Day related. You can see some of that here or here or even here.
All that said, I had a really great time on the show. It was a lot of fun for me, in a year that hasn’t been all that much fun, and I hope Chris enjoyed the discussion as well.
One final thing, I realized that I made a mistake in the episode. I said it was Octoraro Orphie that gets pulled around on a raft to do their prediction. It’s actually Uni, a different stuffed groundhog who does that. Forgive me, I was nervous. Check out a video someone took of the ceremony last year.
Tags: beautanon, beautiful stories from anonymous people, beautiful/anonymous, beautiful/anonymous podcast, chris gethard, groundhog day, groundhogday, podcast
I just listened to the Episode. It was fascinating!
I live in Australia and we don’t have Groundhogs… I didn’t know they predict the weather!
Our black Cockatoos are said to predict rain but not seasons.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, I love your enthusiasm and I hope you get Groundhogs.com one day soon 😊
Thanks so much for listening and commenting!
Yes, we didn’t really get into it on the show, but most of the Groundhog predictors are in the US and Canada, although I believe there are a few others in other countries.
A lot of the non-groundhog forecasters on the list are located in parts of the country that don’t have groundhogs naturally – so there’s definitely precedent for having other animals do their own version of weather predicting when groundhogs aren’t available.
Maybe you could get a new traditional started in Australia where Carrie Cockatoo does a Groundhog Day forecast every year!
Listening to the episode, I noticed that Chris asked me if I had ever written any books and I didn’t answer him. I don’t have anything published, but trust me, I have a number of ideas for Groundhog Day books that I’ll hopefully write at some point.
Just listened to the BA podcast. At predicted, it was the perfect antidote to Election Day anxiety.
How are groundhogs are predicting outcome of elections??
Would have ordered a ‘Long Winter’ T-shirt but not a fan of the groundhog pic in the background. Have enough of the real rodent deal in our yard.
Thanks for listening! Glad it helped, if even a little, with Election Day anxiety!
I don’t think groundhogs usually predict outcomes of elections, I can’t remember any who do so offhand. I’m sure they don’t want to be blamed for any undesirable outcomes!
There is one (stuffed) groundhog (Potomac Phil) in the Washington D.C. area who usually predicts 6 more months of political gridlock when they predict the weather each groundhog day.
I do have a design of the Long Winter without the groundhog in the background that I uploaded – I can see the products in the backend but they haven’t pushed out to the public yet. If you check back tomorrow or later in the week, maybe there’s something that will catch your fancy.
I just finished episode and absolutely loved it! Your passion for this was so great to listen to, and the neighbors taking away your pet groundhog broke my heart. This is one of my favorite episodes of BA!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the episode! Yes, it was really sad when Mr. Groundhog was taken away – I fed him for years and it was disappointing when the new neighbor removed him. But I understand that some people view them as pests, and he was looking out for his garden or whatever.
I appreciate you saying it’s one of your favorite episodes of BA – there are lots of really great past callers, and I consider myself lucky to just be one of them.
This is my new favorite episode of BA! Your love for Groundhog Day is amazing and had me laughing so hard. I am from Pennsylvania so, of course it is a day I am very familiar with. I live close to Harrisburg and have friends that live in Shipoke yet I had never heard of Shipoke Sheena and I am so glad to now know of her.
Thank you so much for putting me in a great mood on this stressful Election Day (I am 35 weeks pregnant and the stress of it all was getting to me until I listened), I am considering listening to it a 2nd time today just because of how great of a distraction it was. I will be checking out the t-shirts and plan to buy my favorite one. Thank you again, such a great episode.
Erica, so glad you enjoyed it! I think PA has the most prognosticators of any state (and for good reason) so you definitely have some options for groundhogs to see in any year.
Shipoke Sheena has only been forecasting for a few years, so it’s understandable that you hadn’t heard of her yet and I’m certainly glad to help increase everyone’s Groundhog Day knowledge!
Congratulations on your forthcoming child (perhaps you could name it after your favorite groundhog)! No pressure on buying a T-shirt, but if you do, hope you enjoy it. Thank you for commenting!
A wonderful episode! It was so satisfying and enjoyable on many different levels. Can’t wait to don a new t-shirt here in Portland, OR! Thanks so much for making my day/week/winter and spring!
Brooke, thank you for the kind feedback and for picking up a T-shirt. Hope you like it, and I’m happy if I was able to help bring a little joy to your day/week/winter.
Your episode was the only thing keeping me sane through the election today… THANK YOU!!!
Evan, glad you like it and happy to help! Thanks for commenting.
Loved your episode and love your website! Living in Florida, winter isn’t really a thing but you bet I’m still going to purchase something to support you, my dude!
Thank you so much for saying that and visiting, and purchasing something if you do. Even though you might not have winter weather it looks like there are a couple of predictors in your state. First Coast Friz who is new last year and Patagonian Cavy Nick who I don’t think has made predictions for the last few years.
I just listened to the episode on my morning commute- I loved that you actually shared the site with us!! Will definitley be back to check some predictions in Feb.
Thanks for listening Becca! Yes, please come back in February to find out if we’re going to have an early spring or not!
Greetings from Portugal. In Portugal we have this saying”Em dia da Senhora das Candeias, se estiver o Céu a rir, está Inverno p´ra vir, se estiver a chorar, está o Inverno a passar!…”. February, 2nd is the day of Our Lady of Candeias. If the sky cries (rains) the winter is almost gone. If the sky is laughing(no rain) then more winter is yet to come.
Vitor, thanks for sharing! This is super interesting. I’ve never heard of this saying. So in essence the sky is the groundhog in this scenario? I’ll definitely share this info a blog post in the near future, if you’re cool with that.
Hi!
I had to push pauseon the podcast and come look at your site. You seem like a great dude. Best of luck!
Thanks Brandon! I don’t know about a great dude, but I like to think on most days I’m at least an OK dude.
BEST B/A EPISODE EVER!!!!!!
Thanks so much Tanner, that’s high praise. There are lots of great episodes! I’m no Ron Paul’s baby.
This episode made my heart smile. I’m now groundhog day enthusiast. I hope all my friends and relatives appreciate all the Groundhog Day greeting cards they’re going to receive in February. Lol.
Thanks for the laughter on a gloomy, stressful day. You’re the absolute best!!!
So glad you enjoyed it Del and thanks for the comment! And I think it should go without saying that I think a lot more people should be sending Groundhog Day cards to their loved ones.
Hey man, I love how passionate you are about this! I’m a web designer with some base knowledge in SEO, so I sent you an email. I really needed this episode today, this was perfect. Thanks for calling in when you did! It’s the perfect antidote to election day stress. You rock. Best of luck with this endeavor!!
Thank you Jen, I just saw your email and would love to work with you on some SEO for the site. I’ll reach out to you soon! Thanks for the post and glad you enjoyed the episode.
Just listened to your episode.. I will definitely be ordering some merch because this entire idea is awesome but also as a thank you for lifting me out of the election anxiety I’ve been wallowing in all day! Thx for the laughs.
Caitlin, no pressure on ordering anything but appreciated if you do! I’m glad you got some enjoyment from the episode and it helped with the election anxiety.
I loved your passion on the show!
Thank you for bringing a smile to my face.
Thank you for listening. Kind comments like these bring a smile to MY face.
This is amazing. I’m so happy I listened today.
Thanks, I’m glad you listened as well!
Love the call! Easily one of my favorites. Your enthusiasm is contagious (as is Gethard’s giggling throughout the call). I moderate the reddit community for B/A (r/beautifulanonymous) and made sure to include your site and a link to this page in the post for this episode.
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’ll definitely be checking out the discussion on the Reddit B/A community.
Ordered a shirt and a ‘Sorry Sally’ mug 🙂
What a great and relaxed episode. And your stats must go through the roof right?
Listened to it on my evening run and had a smile from ear to ear from the get-go, thanks.
Kind regards from the Netherlands
Thank you for buying a shirt and a mug! Hope they last you a long time! We had a lot of visitors yesterday and looking like we’re still getting some today. Much more than we’ve gotten even on actual Groundhog Day. Let me know if you find any Groundhog Day predictors in the Netherlands.
So there’s a meerkat that is giving a basic forecast every day called Puk at animalpark Amersfoort. Had no idea this was a thing but checked after the BA episode 🙂
https://youtu.be/oTIig4f9MrM
Cannot find any Groundhog Day related predictors in the Netherlands. Maybe it’s time to get a pet…
That’s pretty cool about the meerkat. I’ll have to check it out.
Yes, you should definitely get a pet and start you own Groundhog Day tradition! If you do I’ll gladly add it to my list.
Hi!! I listened to half the podcast on my morning commute, omg I need a tshirt, and am going to listen to the other half this evening. What a wonderful goofy episode on an extra stressful day. I’m sending posi vibes from Philly <3
Glad you enjoyed the episode and thanks if you buy a shirt! Wish things weren’t so stressful – unfortunately they may be that way for awhile…
Thanks for sharing this with us! I never knew and will check out your site on groundhog day for sure! I also noticed that I say groundhogs day and will stop! Have a great day!
Thanks for commenting. It’s OK if you call it Groundhog’s Day. It’s not that big a deal. Lots of people do it. I’ve even heard Stephen Tobolowsky call it Groundhog’s Day, and he was in the movie Groundhog Day!
I loved hearing about your passion for Groundhog Day! So inspiring! Also, such a great topic to learn about when in the midst of such anxiety-provoking times
I live in South Carolina and have never seen a groundhog in person. Thanks for your hard work. I’m gonna spend some time browsing the site now 🙂
Thanks for commenting and glad you enjoyed the episode. I looked at my list and it doesn’t look like you have any Groundhog Day predictors in SC at all, even groundhog stand-ins. Hope you get to see a live groundhog someday!
That would be cool! Thanks for checking!
Just listened to the episode- LOVED IT! You’re sold out of the light blue. When will you have more in stock?
I’m glad that you enjoyed the episode! Unfortunately I don’t have any insight into when the site will have more light blue shirts in stock – I just upload the design and they handle everything else. If you let me know which design you’re interested in, I can see if any other print on demands sites I use have a light blue shirt and upload there.
This episode made me giggle too…a much needed relief. Thanks for sharing everything groundhog. You are awesome.
I’m glad the episode made you giggle and you got some relief from listening! I hope you and everyone else who visits will come back on Groundhog Day to find out what the groundhogs predict!
I just listened to the BA episode. I love your enthusiasm and dedication to Groundhogs (just kidding) Groundhog Day. I was wondering if you were on Twitter or Instagram. I feel you need a social media presence. At least to make your followers aware of posts to the site. Anyway, keep up the great work!
Thanks for visiting and glad you enjoyed the episode. I do have a Twitter account, as well as a Facebook page both of which I would love people to follow. No Instagram account at this point.
This was a fun episode of BA, which took my mind off of all of the not fun things we’re all dealing with. Thanks so much for sharing your story! I just ordered a “Sorry Sally, it’s not Groundhog Day yet” mug. I hope you’re enjoying some great conversations and an influx of orders.
Thanks so much for commenting and thanks for purchasing a mug. Being on the podcast was a lot of fun and I’m hearing from a lot of great people and many fans are kindly purchasing merchandise, which is greatly appreciated.
Your episode brightend my cold post election day stressed heart. It was so nice to learn about something so whimsical and fun! Rad website too!
I’m glad the episode helped a little in these stressful times. Thanks for visiting! Come back often!
I wish everyone had this much passion in fulfilling their dreams! You made my week! Thanks for the amazing episode, you just bumped my favorite episode thus far to second place.
So kind of you to say so. There are a lot of great episodes and callers, so I appreciate you saying you enjoyed it so much!
The podcast brought me here. Thank you for sharing your story!
You made me laugh as we agonize over the election results!
I’m glad I could provide some laughs! Thanks for stopping by!
Best of luck! I need to go find more information about the dog dressed as a bear pretending to be a groundhog. Priceless. Thanks for the smiles 🙂
Hi, thanks for stopping by! You can learn more about Shipoke Sheena here.
Hi from Canada (Ontario), home of Wiarton Willie! I just listened to your episode today and it’s great!! I am a bit behind because I was re-listening to all the back episodes that showed up in my queue!! It was a lot of fun. Thanks for making me laugh today!!
Thanks for visiting and glad you enjoyed the episode. Have you ever been to a Groundhog Day festival with Wiarton Willie? My understanding is it’s a pretty big celebration with lots of events.
Just listening to the episode now and it’s amazing. I have had a stressful day and this is honestly such great stress relief. Thank you sir! I can’t wait to get me some groundhog merch!
So glad you enjoyed the episode and I’m glad it could provide some stress relief! Keep groundhogging!
I had so much fun listening to this episode 🙂
Glad you liked it! Thanks for stopping by!
Your call tinkled me pink! I heard it on the last leg of my 5 hour trip after being out of town for a 70 hour work week. It was exactly what I needed without knowing what I needed. When I got home I gave my dogs and cats lots of love and told them they should be grateful they aren’t Groundshogs living outside that could be displaced at any moment and then ordered 2 t-shirts. Thank you for sharing your love and I hope you get your dream of quitting your boring job and spreading Groundhogs Day Cheer!
Thanks so much for the comment, and for ordering 2 t-shirts! I hope you like them and you get good use out of them! Groundhog Day is now less than 3 weeks away! I’m glad people are still discovering the episode and getting some enjoyment out of it! It was a lot of fun to be on the show.
I loved listening to you BA episode so much. Needed this on a Friday afternoon. Thank you for this delightful conversation.
Thanks for stopping by! I’m glad you enjoyed the episode!
I just heard the episode today and I am bummed I dont have time to get groundhog merch! Great episode. Great website.
Glad you enjoyed the episode and heard it before the holiday! Hope you have an enjoyable GHD season.
Just listened to this episode- Oh this episode was so good. I’m in the UK and loved learning about this fascinating topic.
Thank you!
– Hope you made your million. 🤞
Glad you enjoyed the episode and I’m happy people are still discovering it almost a year later! Haven’t made that $1 million yet, but maybe someday!