It is a truth universally acknowledged: real Oregonians don’t use umbrellas.
I have one, but I keep it in my closet.
Seriously.
I’m not really a closeted umbrella user. I keep it there because I have fond memories of my umbrella. It is a Christian Dior. Seriously.
I keep it because my parents gave it to me one Christmas way back in the 80’s and I’ve managed to keep to through countless moves. I remember when we got them (my sister got one, too, only hers was red paisley) my twin sister and I felt like this was a grown up sort of gift to get.
I brought it with me when I moved to Oregon, but I’ve almost never used it here because real Oregonians don’t use umbrellas. We mostly get by with a good hooded rain jacket. In fact, I don’t actually own a winter coat, I just wear a fleece or hoodie under my raincoat. Our winter rains are usually the misty kind and so this arrangement usually works perfectly fine.
But this week is different.
Heavy rain and floods are forecast and I wouldn’t have even thought about my umbrella, except that I have bus dismissal duty after school this week. The area I have to monitor isn’t covered and, I didn’t think my simple water-resistant shell + hoodie would cut it. So, I pulled my umbrella out of the closet and brought it to school yesterday.
I was grateful for it when I walked into school yesterday in a torrential downpour
I was grateful for it at 3:45 yesterday as I waved cars forward to pick kids up in the pouring rain.
I will be grateful for it most of the week, I think.
Some days, real Oregonians, need umbrellas.
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