The Treasure of New England's Weather

One of my books about New England, Look at America: New England (by the Editors of Look Magazine)* has a few words about New England's weather:

"Mark Twain once spoke of the "sumptuous variety" of New England weather. Had he been a New Englander, he would have known that his adjective was ill chosen. There is nothing sumptuous about New England. We are afraid of such a term with its lavish and slightly wicked connotations. The variety of our weather is not sumptuous, but prodigal, reckless, excessive, rash, audacious, wasteful, violent - what you will - but not sumptuous. . . .Nevertheless, the simple fact, even the solemn truth, believe it or not, is that we in New England like our weather. . . ."

The sentence that reads "There is nothing sumptuous about New England" contains a lot of truth in it, but, when it comes to the weather, I have to agree with Mark Twain - we do have a rich bonanza of weather, and I do enjoy it all.

The weather does have its effects on me. When the temperature heads below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, I usually need to wear light gloves (my fingers begin to loose feeling, which I suspect is an aftereffect of frostbite from the many times I was taking pictures at winter fires and other emergencies during my time of active spot news photography). Hot humid weather has other negative effects on me. The list can go on with a variety of (at least perceived) positive, neutral, and negative effects.

I do treasure the rich variety of weather we have, and, when out in it (whatever "it" may be), I usually take a moment to thank the Lord for the opportunity to be out experiencing and enjoying His creation. I tend to think of it as His showering His blessings on this region in a special way.

The Mark Twain comments referenced above come from a speech he delivered at the New England Society's Seventy-First Annual Dinner in New York City on 22 December 1876. The complete text of this speech may be accessed here:

Mark Twain: New England Weather

* - Obviously this book is few years old. Look Magazine stopped publishing in 1971. The book was published in 1947.