Groundhog Day

I have an idea for Port Perry.

For those who don't know, Port Perry (pronounced Pot Pourri) is the small town I grew up in and is located on Lake Scugog and is an hour east of Toronto just north of Oshawa.

To explain my idea I need to preface it by saying that during the period I grew up there, I remember most people in Port Perry being red-necks who live for beer, hunting, tractor-pulls and off-road vehicles.

There is no better time of year than snowmobile season for rednecks. Each year, as the first flakes are hitting the ground so are the guys on their snowmobiles. Sparks shoot out under their tracks from the friction caused by the lack of snow as they race around town.

I was convinced, growing up, that all snowmobilers were drawn to the lake like moths to a light. While just barely frozen, snowmobile tracks would cover the entire area. Many snowmobilers enjoyed playing a game of chance, or Port Perry Roulette as I call it. They would do what is called ‘Water Skipping’ where they believe if the snowmobile has enough speed and/or power it can skip across the top of the water without sinking. So they speed on their snowmobiles along the ice to a spot of open water where they would then glide across it to the solid ice on the other side…or at least that’s what would happen most of the time. However, each year, someone inevitably went in the water from playing this game...and that was the sign for most of us that the warmer weather was coming.

So here is my idea for Port Perry; every February 2nd they should send a snowmobiler across the lake. If he comes back that means winter will last another six weeks. If he doesn't...well, spring is right around the corner.