Keller @ Large: Why All The Weather Complaints?

BOSTON (CBS) - Is it hot enough for you?

Just kidding, no offense meant, and I hope none taken.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

If you're frail or battling an illness, a pregnant mother, or a furry dog, weather this hot is no joke, and you have my sympathy.

Take hope from Mark Twain's famous remark: "If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes."

But for the rest of us, is there really anything to complain about?

Yes, it's hotter than I would prefer it, and I didn't much relish putting on my tie this morning.

But didn't most of us spend much of the last eight months or so dreaming of weather like this, even after the mild winter we had?

No coat needed. Top down on your convertible, if you're lucky enough to have one. Perfect for a swim. Great evening porch-sitting weather. Fried clams never tasted so good.

But still, I heard the complaining yesterday all around me, and I'm skeptical of it.

The playwright Oscar Wilde once said: "Whenever people talk to me about the weather, I always feel quite certain that they mean something else," and I think I know what he meant.

Our complaining about the weather, which is a year-round activity around here, might really be a number of other things than actual dismay with the weather.

It could be a way to vent displeasure with other troublesome aspects of life here in the Garden of Eden, the clown who cut you off in traffic, the Red Sox, the politicians. It might be a way of sharing our sense of how unique our region is, with weather fluctuations unheard-of in lesser states.

Or it could just be a sign of boredom.

In any case, it's a tiresome part of our culture.

I propose adopting the attitude of John Ruskin, a British writer who said: "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."

After all, what other choice do we have but to think positive?

As Mark Twain put it: "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it."

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.