I am intrigued by the umbrella. I really can’t explain why but I find umbrellas fascinating. Their simple yet effective construction is interesting. They only make appearances when its raining and the wind is not blowing which means they are a rarity in southern Alberta.
That could be the reason why I find them so interesting. I grew up seeing them in movies and on television but I don’t recall seeing a lot of them in use. I know as a child I occasionally owned an umbrella but really the few times you could use them you usually forgot them.
I remember going through a phase in my early 20s where I always had an umbrella in my car and actually used it. My favourite was a rather oversized contraption that was really meant for the golf course but I didn’t care. Two people could easily stay dry under it and a small child could have used it as a tent.
It was wonderful and I loved walking in the rain under it but it died a rather ugly death when a major gust of wind almost turned it inside out and lifted me off the ground- a major accomplishment even for a Southern Alberta wind.
I tried a few more umbrellas here and there over the next decade or so but none lasted very long. I was always on the look out for something unique or funny. I loved comical umbrellas, ones with whimsical designs like rubber duckies or frogs. My sister has a rather cute umbrella covered in M&Ms, not the real candies, just pictures. The ones with eyes on them and faces were a little too much for me, I would be wondering why people were staring at me.
Most of my umbrellas either fell victim to wind or I forgot where I put them. That’s the problem with an umbrella in this part of the country, you just don’t use it enough to get into the habit of always having it handy or keeping it stored where you can find it when needed.
If you travel to other parts of the country or even other countries, where rain is more common and not always accompanied by major wind gusts, you will see umbrellas of all shapes and sizes. It’s a sight to behold walking down a street in London and see a rainbow of colours and designs.
I couple of years ago I found the best umbrella ever. It had it’s own telescoping plastic cover which meant it could be collapsed and encased in two swift motions and nothing got wet inside my car. I loved that umbrella, I really did. I was so careful with it, only taking it out on windless rainy days.
It was a much admired umbrella by friends and family. Too bad I can’t remember where I got it. I choose to believe it was payment for all the umbrellas destroyed by gusterly villains in the past.
More often than not I forgot about it in the back seat of my car or even in my trunk but when it surfaced on a rainy day I was delighted to put it to good use. Sadly, in spite of all my careful avoidance of windy days it too lost its battle to a freak gust of wind. Out of no where a gust almost sent it flying across the hood of my car. I admit defeat. I don’t think of myself as a quitter but that was the best umbrella ever and I just don’t have the heart to go search out a replacement just to see it meet the same fate. One too many gusts of wind and I figure it’s just easier and cheaper to go without. Sadly that is more often than not the choice made by Southern Albertans. Even with the abundance of rain we’ve already seen this spring, those using the tried and true umbrella are few and far between. They are the brave ones, the organized ones, the people who can be trusted with the care of a good umbrella. I’m just not one of them.