Friday, February 4, 2011

Pierre C. Shadeaux: Louisiana's Oracle of Spring

No one seriously believes that a groundhog’s shadow can predict long winters or the imminent coming of spring. But, culturally, US news agencies have celebrated Pennsylvania’s Punxatawny Phil’s role as Spring’s Oracle as if the conditions in this one state could be generalized as valid for our whole country.

Down here in Cajun Country, native Lousianans reject the notion that a Pennsylvania ground hog could validly declare the coming of spring for our region. Indeed, Acadian farmers and other hurricane savvy Louisianans rely most heavily not on groundhogs, but rather, on expert meteorologists to provide precise daily wind and rainfall predictions in order to safely manage their crops and off-shore businesses.

Of course, Cajuns do playfully glean a touch of weather wisdom from the animal kingdom, but they reject the national cultural imposition of the ground hog as a mythic source of wisdom for their region. Instead, local Acadian communities have established their very own oracle to announce the coming of spring.

On February 2nd, Cajuns observed the behavior of Pierre C. Shadeaux (pronounced: Pierre C. Shadow) – a nutria who resides in his very own New Iberian castle. If Mr. Shadeaux fails to see his shadow on the 2nd, then winter will be prolonged for six more weeks. If he sees his shadow, then, Acadians hope to enjoy a long spring and short summer.

Yes, the foolishness of this game is obvious to every person who has ever spent a winter in this wonderful state. From one day to the next our temperatures rise to 70°, then plummet to the mid-thirties or mid-twenties, then rise to the 60s or 70s the very next day. But, this year on Feb. 2nd, we were absolutely exhausted from the extreme and inconstant weather, and so, we hoped Mr. Shadeaux would predict a solid transition to Spring. He did not fail to disappoint, even as we were sent home from school on Feb. 3rd, because of a “winter storm:”  Here's the video:  http://www.katc.com/videoplayer/?video_id=5980&categories=