If we were in a boxing match, it would have been stopped by now.
If the State of Maine were in the ring with all-time champ Mother Nature, by now the ref would have pulled her off of us as we hang helpless on the ropes; wrapping his arms around us to keep us from falling and muttering into our ear, “It’s not your night, kid. It’s not your night.”
These days, our beloved state’s famously fickle weather seems to take some sort of delight in ignoring that old Maine axiom, ‘if you don’t like the weather wait a few minutes, it will change.’ Forecast after forecast holds true to course, although we sincerely appreciate the break for the Fourth of July.
Unfortunately, dampened spirits are the least of our concerns as there is a real economic cost to all these dreary conditions.
Our big business is tourism and who wants to hit the beach when it’s so cold you need a fall fleece? Why take a road trip to Vacationland this weekend when you can stay just as comfy and twice as warm at home?
Tourism is only the most obvious victim.
We can’t forget the lost crops, the storm damaged roads, many of which were in bad shape to begin with, and all the construction projects that sit idled by the weather.
We hate to say it, but it could be worse.
The American southeast is still in the grips of a record drought and the areas of the west and southwest are seeing record high temperatures but still, we would be happy to swap some of our cool, wet weather for a few days of their hot dry stuff.
To the majority of America, Maine may be stereotyped as the land of lobsters, lighthouses and potatoes, but we who live here know the delights of our home state. We remain one of the nation’s best kept secrets and if the rest of this summer stays on course, we might well be safe for another year.
