Today’s assignment was tough since I had no reason to really go out — I was working from home, and, frankly, there’s not much newsworthy going on around here.

Except for ONE thing. The weather.

Yesterday, I mentioned was a cold, gloomy day. The kind of day where the air sort of saturates every layer of clothing and skin.

But today? Today it is 70 degrees in Fredericksburg, the skies are blue, and there is a bit of breeze.

And, of course, today is also the day that Punxsutawney Phil makes his appearance to tell you if there will be six more weeks of winter. All indications are, that despite the fact that most of the nation is digging out from a mega-storm, Phil didn’t see his shadow and spring is around the corner.

To commemorate the event, I grabbed our stuffed groundhog (yes, of COURSE we have a stuffed groundhog!!), and decided to do a little photo shoot. I picked the one above because, oh, he looked noble and defiant standing on the melting snow, but here’s a little slideshow of his entire adventure.