WATERVILLE -- The rain in Maine stays mainly -- everywhere and anywhere, always and forever.

At least that's how it feels lately, with day after day of rain, drizzle and downpours.

"It's depressing -- it needs to end," said Jessica Swett, as she cradled her baby, Madison, on Front Street Thursday.

Swett's declaration resounded through the streets of the city Thursday as people bemoaned the constant wet weather and lack of sunlight.

"I miss being outside," said Jackie Dupont, director of programs at Hardy Girls, Healthy Women, on Common Street. "We spend the winter inside and you look forward to having sun so you can go camping and do gardening. I'm rugged enough to camp in the rain but I would really like the opportunity to camp or garden not in the rain. A lot of summer activities you plan end up not happening and it's really disappointing."

Dupont was meeting in the Hardy Girls office Thursday with Julie Mathieu, child care director of the George J. Mitchell Before and After School Program.

Mathieu said she has 70 children in a program this summer that usually relies on a lot of outdoor activities. But she has had to have back-up plans for the children because of the rainy weather.

"They love the outside pool and last week, I think they went only once," she said.

Children generally are happy and do not seem to notice the wet weather, but adults are another story.

"I told my husband this morning that I'm getting to the breaking point of -- I'm going to weather.com and find a state where there's sun and I'm going to fly there," Mathieu said, half-jokingly.

Where are the big, bright, beautiful, summer days with billowing clouds, blue skies and 70-degree temps?

Somewhere behind a stubborn weather pattern that has been stationary, all around the northern hemisphere for the last month or so, say experts.

"We're just stalled out; we're just not moving anywhere," meteorologist Butch Roberts said Thursday from the National Weather Service in Gray.

But the atmosphere as of Thursday was starting to show some signs of movement and by today, we should see some sun and it may be more pronounced on Sunday, Roberts said.

He said he expects sun in the mornings and showers in the afternoons.

And next week may actually bring some more typical June weather.

"If this starts to really break down and we start to see a change, we may see a little more sun," Roberts said. "We're not out of the woods until probably late next week."

But, as they say, one man's woe is another's wish.

People in the south are experiencing weather that is just the opposite of ours, according to Roberts. In Texas, for instance, it is very hot and dry, and Texans are in an intensive drought.

"They would love to have this rain," he said.

Not Randy Wayne, 30, who says the rain has put a damper on his construction work. In the last two weeks, he has lost about $1,000 worth of business, he said.

"This is unbelievable," Wayne said Thursday on Main Street downtown. "I haven't seen rain like this since I was a little kid. It just seems like it is never going to stop."

Bill Basford, of Benton, was in Jorgensen's Cafe, also on Main Street. When asked how he has been affected by the rain, the 63-year-old said he has been getting really grumpy lately.

But his smile indicated a more upbeat attitude.

"I've abandoned all thoughts of mowing the lawn until it gets dry," he said. "If it turns into hay, that's okay. If the grass gets tall and just goes to seed, I'll have a better lawn next year."

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com