Groundhog Hill

A while ago I discovered an online comic panel called Groundhog Hill on Instagram.  I was searching for raccoon comics, or anything with opossums and skunks, since these are our three fairly regular nocturnal visitors that I admire.

I'm not sure which actual comic first caught my eye but from then I looked further into this and was delighted to find more containing these animals.  They are great single panel comics with one sentence and often bring a smile to my face.  Who wouldn't want that every now and then?

Here are a few samples from Groundhog Hill...

Look, all 3 of the mammal crew in one panel!  LOVE!

My heaven most certainly would have a cute little opossum hanging out with me.

Then there's this one.  Unfortunately some don't see the humor in this as they despise raccoons so much.  Sad.

This one really tugged on my heart for a few reasons.

I do my best to promote Groundhog Hill on Facebook as I have a comic album where I share such things every now and then.

Not all the comics are animal related.

Sometimes you have to look for the animal.  Somehow I missed the raccoon the first time I saw the panel.

And sometimes the animals aren't wildlife.  Fur family members make for great topics.  Our cats do this once the chill sets in the air.  We recently turned on the furnace and both Merry and Molly found vents to lay themselves on.  HAHA!  My mom's cat often laid out like the one shown here.

I highly recommend checking out Groundhog Hill on Instagram.  They are on Facebook as well.  As an added story, if you are still reading this...

The artist of Groundhog Hill had an exhibit in Dundas, Ontario early in the fall.  They live in the area and Groundhog Hill is actually a place nearby.  It is part of their inspiration.  Making a long story short, Angie and I talked about the exhibit and checking it out while we were on vacation during my "birthday week".  Not that I celebrate my birthday all week but we normally take a week off around it as the weather is nice, finally breaking out of the hot humid summer.

Leading up to our vacation, Angie contacted Rose (the artist) and they got talking about us coming to the show.  Rose was delighted to hear this and made sure to be present on the day we were going.  She wanted to meet us as much as we to her.  She's been grateful of my support of her work.  So when we did meet that afternoon, it was wonderful to be face to face, and not "chatting" through social media.

Here we are, and me holding Rose's book that she gave to me as a token of appreciation/birthday gift.  Yay!  I can "visit" Groundhog Hill through the pages whenever I want instead of looking at my phone.  

Rose had an amazing run with her exhibit and it was almost a complete sell out.  We picked up this original, that apparently came to be through some inspiration because of my pigeon posts.  It says "I could do that!".  Hilarious!!!

Angie was wondering if Rose did commissions.  A quick browse of her website and we learned that she does.  Angie had an idea for one and funny as so did I.  Mine was a bench with a raccoon, skunk and an opossum sitting on it.  There was a sign nearby that said "Mueller Sanctuary".  I haven't come up with any one liners and maybe I don't need to.  Angie thought that was a cute idea but liked her's better which is a back view of me and some of our backyard critters.  You know, a pigeon in my hand, a raccoon near my feet and a few other species scattered about.  It would say "Rob and the Animals" at the bottom.  Wow!  I really like that idea.  

Skipping ahead... the commission is complete.  Angie has seen pics of it and teased me over the Thanksgiving weekend by flashing her phone screen past me rather quickly.  I could see well enough that it was the commission but couldn't take in any of what actually was there.  OH MAN!!!  We are planning to meet Rose at the end of the month when we are on vacation again.  So as I key this, we are still a few weeks away from the moment where I get to see it with my own eyes and not just this visual that I have drawn up in my head.  I'm sure I will love it  

Skipping ahead a little more... okay, here we are after the meeting which actually happened a week before vacation due to busy schedules, the commission is at home with us and I LOVE IT!!!!!  What do you think?  Raccoon, skunk, opossum family which I dream of seeing instead individuals (although we did have a mom here the summer of 2022 and the cam caught her with one baby), pigeon in my hand, squirrel in the tree and there's a little owl further up.  Then there's me with my TWC volunteer hoodie and my backyard crocs.  Perfect!

The world can be pretty dark and grim at times; escaping to Groundhog Hill sure is nice when possible.  I think we are going to visit the real place one of these days.