It occurs annually on Feb. 2 – this Sunday.

Groundhog Day was started in 1886 in Punxsutawney, Pa. by German settlers who brought the tradition from their homeland.

They even have a special weather-predicting goundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, who allegedly comes out of his burrow each Feb. 2 to decide whether spring is right around the corner or if we’re in for six more weeks of winter.

The event has become a national event with news services taking note whether Phil makes his scheduled appearance and what he predicts.

It’s all in fun and gives Punxsutawney national notice. Hint: the spring equinox this year falls on Thursday, March 30.

Optimism grows as president takes quick action

The victory by Donald J. Trump in the presidential race has provided unprecedented optimism in the ranks of at least one-half the U.S. population.

Many Americans feared the loss of their freedoms – unknown in the rest of the world – with the continuing onslaught against the Constitution and the nation’s Judeo- Christian foundation by Trump’s predecessor.

The happy Americans were thrilled by the unexpected landslide victory by the “Orange Man” so hated by the socialist Progressive Left.

Trump supporters were jubilant with the president’s actions in the first week of his second term in the White House. He enacted, primarily through executive orders, a massive number of the reforms he promised while campaigning. He accomplished more in his first week than he had in the first six months of his first term – eight years prior, likely because he knew from the experience of his first term where the Bureauc(rats) hide in the “Swamp.”

Columnist Arthur Schaper, writing on Townhall. com, observed that Trump’s first term, which was marked by rampant backstabbing by appointees who should have been helping him make needed improvements, followed by a four-year term by Democrat Joe Biden whose actions generally produced a damaged – not to mention less free – nation served to humble the nation. Trump, too.

Schaper’s idea was that the 2020 election, followed by COVID-19, George Floyd, massive overspending and an impulsive congressional majority more interested in stopping the man who threatened their drive toward a secular, one-world government where every citizen’s actions would be determined by an elite minority.

Former President Trump’s close calls with two assassination attempts seemed to transform him into a more humble, more thoughtful person.

He apparently decided his surviving those near death events were God-ordered in order to help him truly Make America Great Again.

Schaper declared: “We need God. We need Biblical truth. We need to restore our Judeo-Christian heritage, our Anglo-American legal traditions, and our revolutionary legacy.”

With all the experts predicting a blow-out victory by incompetent and deeply leftist Vice-President Kamala Harris, who Democrats stuck in the race after Biden’s severe dementia was revealed in a debate, Trump put together a campaign that attracted many political groups that Democrats had thought belonged solely to them and Trump won.

His inauguration on Jan. 20 ignited a wave of actions: closing the southern border, opening up government property for energy drilling, ending Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices in government and requiring merit-based hiring in government agencies.

He also signed orders affirming that there are only two sexes, ending men in women’s restrooms and sports, requiring that embassies fly only the American flag (no activist flags), ending remote work practices, (government workers are required to return to offices), withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO), paused all new federal leasing and permitting for wind farms, withdrew from the Paris Climate agreement, reversed burdensome regulations that impeded Alaska’s ability to develop its natural resources and stopped Biden’s electric vehicle mandate.

Much of his first week activity involved the some 12 million or more illegal aliens who came into the nation during the Biden-Harris years.

It began with a roundup of illegal aliens, starting with those with criminal records, threatening the revocation of federal funding to states and localities claiming sanctuary status to prevent removal of illegal aliens, directing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to take action to ensure no public benefits are provided to unauthorized immigrants.

Other actions included: Ordering DHS to expand 287(g) agreements with state and local law enforcement to mobilize them as partners in enforcing federal immigration law, “to the maximum extent permitted by law.”

Revoking all Biden policies setting priorities for immigration enforcement.

Directing audits of any federal contracts with non-gov-