I have it on good authority — okay, really, on strong suspicion — that Mark Twain (whose real name was Samuel Clemens) penned the quote above shortly after moving to upstate New York. I can almost see him in his octagonal study in Elmira, NY on that first day of May,  chipping little icicles off the tips of his fingers in order to write. I don’t pretend to be psychic, but I can almost hear him shouting to his wife, “Ding blast it, Mrs. Clemens, it’s supposed to be Spring in this infernal region!”

They spoke like that back then, but I suspect he may have used more colorful language, being a satirist, and all.

She, having grown up in Elmira, rather than in his native Missouri, would simply have chuckled at his naïveté.

How do I know she would have chuckled, you may ask.  How would she have stayed married to a humorist the likes of Mark Twain for 34 years without her own wicked sense of humor?

Actually, he may have been duped into moving to this land of snow and ice. You see, he and Olivia Langdon Clemens were married on Groundhog Day, February 2, 1870 in her hometown of Elmira. I bet he was fooled into thinking that, when the groundhog saw his shadow, it meant six more weeks of winter. Everyone who has lived here for any length of time knows that if the groundhog sees his shadow, it actually means six more months of unseasonably cold weather until our six hours of summer arrives.

So, once the weather finally does turn to Spring, if you would like to visit Mark Twain’s charming study, where he wrote such fine works as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, it can be found on the grounds of Elmira College at 800 Park Place in Elmira, NY. While there, be sure to also visit the Mark Twain Exhibit located in historic Cowles Hall. Both are open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, May 1 through Labor Day. They are closed Sundays and school holidays. In the fall, the study is open Saturdays from September until mid-October from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. To visit at other times, call 607-735-1941 for an appointment.

P.S. Actually, I jest about him having been duped by the groundhog. The first Groundhog’s Day took place on February 2, 1887… so he was married 17 years too early to have had fair warning about Finger Lakes weather.

Originally published in February 2018 in Beyond the Nest‘s free weekly newsletter of Arts, Culture and Recreation in Greater Rochester, and beyond.  Click here to sign up to receive it.