Umbrellas Are My Friend

Living in a pedestrian city requires that you become friends with an umbrella. Make that umbrellasssssss because just as you get used to a favored one the day turns sunny and and it is soon left behind to become the friend of someone else.
There is no loyalty in the umbrella world.

I had never before given umbrellas much thought. We always had them around the house, shoved under more frequently used weather items like gloves, hats, and scarves but it was rare to pull one out. Oh, maybe there would be a showery morning that required an umbrella covered dash to the driveway to pick up the newspaper that was five times its normal size from absorbing every puddle within three feet of it, but for the most part the umbrella stayed in the closet.

My lesson in learning to carry an umbrella at all times has been learned the hard way. Unexpected torrential downpours have left me shopping, museum strolling, and lunching with a look that should only be viewed in private. That "just stepped out of the shower but with all my clothes on" look. Not a pretty look and very hard to recover from once it's acquired without going home, taking a real shower, and throwing all your clothes in the washer.

It IS possible in NYC to dash under overhangs for blocks at a time but then comes the storefront where there is more people overhang than actual overhang. And you don't want to be that person just barely under the overhang because that is where the rain accumulated on the roof is definitely going to spill. I've seen it happen. Okay, I've HAD it happen. Carrying an umbrella is definitely the way to go.

So now I've made friends with my umbrella(s). I like them all. Big ones, small ones, pretty ones, black ones, travel size, golf size, and even adopted ones. As long as they keep me dry.