Weather got you down and out? Let's re-phrase that. Weather got you down and in -- indoors, indignant and perhaps indisposed? We observe that the leaden skies and damp air that have settled over the area have led to a malaise. The telltale signs? Pallid cheeks, hanging heads, sour countenances, sounds of grumbling. Such signs of distress are generally pervasive in mid-March, not mid-summer. Of course, the malady is nothing that a little sunshine and Vitamin D couldn't cure. We don’t ask for much -- we're New Englanders, after all — but we’d like our fair share.

As we write, the forecast for New England, according to New England Cable News, goes like this: Partly to mostly cloudy, showers and thunderstorms with flooding in Vermont and western Massachusetts, shifting east and diminishing. And then: more clouds than sun with periodic showers and thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon. Any storms may produce damaging wind, hail and flooding. And then: More clouds than sun with continued showers and thunderstorms for many, the flood threat continues. And then: well, you get the idea.

Even if the sun happens to make a rare appearance some time today or over the holiday weekend, the fact of the matter is that June was a month of mostly rain and more rain, followed by rain. To be precise, there were 18 days of precipitation recorded at Lebanon Municipal Airport last month. That was enough, to be sure, but apparently not enough to break any records. Indeed, as measured in inches -- 4.65 -- the amount of rainfall was pretty typical of the region for this time of year, though it appears that July may be striving for a personal best in the precipitation division.

So it must be something else that is causing the slight sickness of the soul, the sense of vague resentment that something owed has not yet been delivered. We suspect what's behind this sickness is not the rain but rather the gray film overhead and the unseasonably cool temperatures. Deprived of the bright light, vibrant colors and warmth that are summer's to bestow, the mind reacts poorly. Ordinarily, these climes can expect sunshine about 60 percent of the time in June and July. We ask only that the rule of averages apply.

Evidently the region has been experiencing what the British, who know something about inclement weather, would call a spate of dull days, dull in this sense being a meteorological adjective of choice, as in “Tomorrow will be dull, winds variable, showers expected, patchy fog.” Note that dull is also an adjective of mind. Given that man has been unable to change the weather, which is so closely connected with mood, perhaps he ought to adopt a new way of talking about it. Cloudy? Showers? Thunderstorms? Try instead: muted light, water droplets expected to bless the ground, zephyrs in from the west. The great star on extended leave, expected return unknown. Have a nice day.