Punxsutawney Phil will make his annual appearance in Pennsylvania today and according to legend, if the groundhog sees his shadow and returns to his hole, that means there is still six more weeks of winter. If Phil does not see his shadow, then if could be an early spring.
However, if the next month and a half are anything like Wednesday in Norwalk, everyone will be pretty happy. February opened with temperatures near 60 degrees, allowing sports enthusiasts to get out and enjoy the day.
"This is unbelievable, it really is," said Ed Seferan, who was playing golf at Oak Hills. "It's really beautiful and I'm enjoying myself."
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Jovan Flores, 33, of Norwalk was playing in a two-some ahead of Serefan and had a hard time believing he was teeing up in February, "Who wouldn't be playing golf today? This is awesome," he said.
Over at Brien McMahon High School, several lacrosse players were fine tuning their skills at Jack Casagrande Stadium. Practice doesn't begin for another two months, but it almost seemed like mid-season for a few of the Senators.
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"Playing lax in this weather is great," said senior Kevin Ceme. "I'm working on my ground balls and long passes." Added teammate Damien Vega, "It's a little scary that it's this warm. It's definitely a treat for us and I think we're done with the snow for this year."
In Rowayton, several workers at The Boats Works labored outside as they usually do at this time of year, but they didn't need hats, gloves, or layers of clothing to keep warm.
"We're building docks for spring use," said Phil Koenig. "This makes it much more pleasant. It's global warming going on. I'm not really surprised. It's a little abrupt, but that's how things have been going."
Tony Vavala, who was working with Koenig, says the surprisingly high-temperatures for Feb. 1 is a lot better than the alternative, "It's real nice not to be shoveling snow. We're usually out here anyway, but it's good when you're not freezing as you work."
People all around Norwalk took advantage of the day, riding their bikes, putting the top down on their convertibles, and going for walks. After the heavy snow from last winter, this dry and warm spell has put a lot of smiles on the faces of people throughout the city.
