Let Me Be Your Umbrella

Umbrellas 

Did you know there is such a day as National Umbrella Day? It's celebrated in the US each year on February 10.

Why?

I'm not really sure. Perhaps, it's a way to honor one of the world's most convenient inventions.

The umbrella keeps us dry from rain and protects us from the heat of the sun. It can be a fashion accessory. It's a religious symbol in some cultures. Representing the dome of the sky, it's a protective shadow on earth. When carried above a person, it indicates respectability.

Plus, it provides inspiration when you need to get through days when the sky is grey, and everything is… wet.

Consider this.

The mind is like an umbrella. It's most useful when open.

 

When times are tough, friends and family are your umbrella. 

When others try to rain on your dreams, let it be your shelter and comfort.

Take refuge under that canopy and dream on.

First Grandchildren share a golf umbrella, 3 and 5 years old, resp. Honolulu, HI: November 2015

And if you’re feeling a little bit low,

If you’re feeling under the weather,

If your sky is darkening with rain clouds...

... Let me be your umbrella. 

Fashionably Nerdy Me.

Alum Creek Lake, Delaware, Ohio: 2020 

Rain Walking

Umbrellas

I love rain. It's my favorite weather.

Rain is the sky descending to earth.

It makes me think of grace. 

Someone's smile.

A presence beside me as very light rain, almost mist-like, falls quite lowly and gently. 

And it all comes back again. 

A voice meeting mine. 

Someone who makes a tiny world with just him and me, his whisper and my trust.

A couple holding hands.

Walking under an umbrella in the rain. 

Pennies From Heaven

Umbrellas

... Every time it rains, it rains

Pennies from Heaven

Don't you know each cloud contains

Pennies from Heaven?

Are you familiar with the song Pennies from Heaven?

It's an American popular tune introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1936 film of the same name.

I heard it a long time ago when I was young and naive. And I believed it.

I would look at each cloud, knowing that behind its shadows were bright, shiny pennies just waiting to shower upon my spirit and water my soul.

So every time it rained, I'd put my umbrella up, up, upside down.

I was hopeful that fortune would soon be falling all over town.

Have I ever caught any riches yet?

No. Not yet.

Just paltry stuff.

Like the smell of rain and its secrets. 

A feeling of peace that washes over me from the wide, open sky.

The promise of sun after the rain.

Pink Umbrella

Umbrellas

I love umbrellas. 

Like no other.

Maybe because I associate them with the jubilant years of my early schooldays. 

Each year, besides the usual Mongol pencil, box of Crayola, paste, and ruled paper all stashed in a brand-new bag, I also had an umbrella.

Mum wanted me to preserve my fair-skin looks so she had me use the umbrella on sunny days. And, of course, she didn't want me to get even a speck of rain on me on those rainy days. Thus, the ubiquitous umbrella. 

Weird, but that was how it was.

For sure, I looked forward to what my umbrella would look like. Perhaps, light green with white stripes for a change? But Mum always chose a pink one with flowers for me, a joyous splash of color on those gray, rainy days when I walked on Fountain Street toward Geronimo. 

I would curl my hands around its curved handle, thinking, The wind is trying to make it fly.

To this day, each time I hold one in my hand, I cannot help but grin.

The rhythm of rain upon the umbrella reminds me of younger days when I would be on the street, wooden clogs splashing the puddles. 

When it made me feel as if I were rising high regardless of the weather, destined to rise above and watch the clouds below.