no umbrella
it has been raining now for, I think about, 3 years. The only thing pretty about the rain downtown is the different color umbrellas. Everything else is grey and cold and wet.
Yesterday I saw this old woman, with a scarf tied over her hair and a navy blue umbrella with tan birds on it. Her umbrella was small and frail, one end was bent up in the wind.
There was a young black woman I saw, she was petite, with broad shoulders and big breasts. Her umbrella was larger than those golfing umbrellas, it was the size that I have seen on some hot-dog stands I think. It covered one whole square of the sidewalk when she walked. She and her friend could not stand next to eachother with enough room. I heard the lady with the big umbrella shout to her friend three steps in front of her "It's so huge, but it has holes in it, and I'm getting drips!"
Today I asked Susie, one the cheery, shuffling receptionists, who has a strong affection for beany babies and smiley faces, what color her umbrella was. She said, today she had to take the black one in, as though I had been to her hall closet and knew which umbrella was THE black one. Then she went on, without prompting, to describe her usual umbrella that has pastel buckets and watercans and the like. I probably couldn't even have thought up a more perfect umbrella for her to carry. The oddest part of that encounter was that Susie didn't seem alarmed or confused that I asked her what color her umbrella was; it seemed like a perfectly reasonable question to her. She also added, as I turned away, that her friend Flor (who works with her) had a pretty one too.
It makes me wonder how much umbrellas say something about who you are. Most people regard them as a thing you hold above your head not to get wet, they grab the first one they see, the might have even bought it over-priced at a mini mart or on vacation and kept it in the car for years. It is only navy blue or black. These are people that often times forget their umbrella. These people don't think about umbrellas very often at all.
They are similar to the business man with the barbie umbrella, or the rainbow golf umbrella, a half broken red umbrella with some marketing slogan printed on the side. These people don't care about umbrellas at all, they take one that was left behind by someone else if they need it. They are in constant exchange as though umbrellas were a universal currency. This group is in a secret society of umbrella sharers all over the world because there are many people that never, ever forget their umbrella...
See, there are the Burberry Umbrella owners, the DKNY, the tan and grey that match their jacket. Let's call them the London Fogs, The people that somehow look sophisticated in the rain. Their umbrellas are always proud and strong ones that don't collapse small to fit in their purse, they have handles shaped like canes. These people wake up early and check the weather in the morning.
Lastly there are what I like to refer to as the Yellow Umbrellas. These are people with a generally cheery disposition and carry an umbrella of whatever fashion that honestly makes them happy. A woman I passed yesterday with a hot pink umbrella with ducks splashing on it, I heard her say to her friend walking to lunch "I'm just one of those people that loves the rain." I think Yellow Umbrellas are faking it so that we will all be jealous of them, and the truth is ... I am.
I bought an umbrella to be a member of the Yellow Umbrellas. It's a clear dome that covers my head and shoulders. But, today, I left it in my car next to a bunch of umbrellas that aren't mine. Maybe you can figure out some things about me, just from that alone.
1772--First umbrella used in the United States, BALTIMORE, MD
***The first umbrella in America was introduced by a Baltimore shopkeeper in 1772. Umbrellas are descendants of the parasol or sunshade which has been associated with figures of authority from the Pope to the Emperors of China and Japan.
1828--First American umbrella factory in the U.S., BALTIMORE, MD
***Baltimore can lay claim to the nationÂs first umbrella factory, established by William Beehler in 1828. The companyÂs motto: ÂBorn in Baltimore, raised everywhere.Â
(Baltimore Factory, 1925)
it has been raining now for, I think about, 3 years. The only thing pretty about the rain downtown is the different color umbrellas. Everything else is grey and cold and wet.
Yesterday I saw this old woman, with a scarf tied over her hair and a navy blue umbrella with tan birds on it. Her umbrella was small and frail, one end was bent up in the wind.
There was a young black woman I saw, she was petite, with broad shoulders and big breasts. Her umbrella was larger than those golfing umbrellas, it was the size that I have seen on some hot-dog stands I think. It covered one whole square of the sidewalk when she walked. She and her friend could not stand next to eachother with enough room. I heard the lady with the big umbrella shout to her friend three steps in front of her "It's so huge, but it has holes in it, and I'm getting drips!"
Today I asked Susie, one the cheery, shuffling receptionists, who has a strong affection for beany babies and smiley faces, what color her umbrella was. She said, today she had to take the black one in, as though I had been to her hall closet and knew which umbrella was THE black one. Then she went on, without prompting, to describe her usual umbrella that has pastel buckets and watercans and the like. I probably couldn't even have thought up a more perfect umbrella for her to carry. The oddest part of that encounter was that Susie didn't seem alarmed or confused that I asked her what color her umbrella was; it seemed like a perfectly reasonable question to her. She also added, as I turned away, that her friend Flor (who works with her) had a pretty one too.
It makes me wonder how much umbrellas say something about who you are. Most people regard them as a thing you hold above your head not to get wet, they grab the first one they see, the might have even bought it over-priced at a mini mart or on vacation and kept it in the car for years. It is only navy blue or black. These are people that often times forget their umbrella. These people don't think about umbrellas very often at all.
They are similar to the business man with the barbie umbrella, or the rainbow golf umbrella, a half broken red umbrella with some marketing slogan printed on the side. These people don't care about umbrellas at all, they take one that was left behind by someone else if they need it. They are in constant exchange as though umbrellas were a universal currency. This group is in a secret society of umbrella sharers all over the world because there are many people that never, ever forget their umbrella...
See, there are the Burberry Umbrella owners, the DKNY, the tan and grey that match their jacket. Let's call them the London Fogs, The people that somehow look sophisticated in the rain. Their umbrellas are always proud and strong ones that don't collapse small to fit in their purse, they have handles shaped like canes. These people wake up early and check the weather in the morning.
Lastly there are what I like to refer to as the Yellow Umbrellas. These are people with a generally cheery disposition and carry an umbrella of whatever fashion that honestly makes them happy. A woman I passed yesterday with a hot pink umbrella with ducks splashing on it, I heard her say to her friend walking to lunch "I'm just one of those people that loves the rain." I think Yellow Umbrellas are faking it so that we will all be jealous of them, and the truth is ... I am.
I bought an umbrella to be a member of the Yellow Umbrellas. It's a clear dome that covers my head and shoulders. But, today, I left it in my car next to a bunch of umbrellas that aren't mine. Maybe you can figure out some things about me, just from that alone.
1772--First umbrella used in the United States, BALTIMORE, MD
***The first umbrella in America was introduced by a Baltimore shopkeeper in 1772. Umbrellas are descendants of the parasol or sunshade which has been associated with figures of authority from the Pope to the Emperors of China and Japan.
1828--First American umbrella factory in the U.S., BALTIMORE, MD
***Baltimore can lay claim to the nationÂs first umbrella factory, established by William Beehler in 1828. The companyÂs motto: ÂBorn in Baltimore, raised everywhere.Â
(Baltimore Factory, 1925)
posted by j-e-s-s-i-c-a at 11:57 AM
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