Umbrella

It was the largest, heaviest, most macho umbrella I'd ever seen. We had purchased it years ago, at the men's store with the really high prices where DH only shops about once a decade. Mostly, it resided in the cloak closet (DH thinks it's funny that I use this antiquated expression), because it didn't fit anywhere else. I guess we could have purchased a giant umbrella stand, but we didn't.

I would take it out on special occasions--hurricanes or other big storms which called for such ammunition against the elements. I thought it was indestructible, and it looked like it could shield a small family.

Last Saturday, we remembered that we had a concert to attend, and as we prepared to leave, DH, who never carries an umbrella, went to the cloak closet and grabbed the giant umbrella.

It was pouring when we arrived at the theater; DH dropped me off, and I walked the few yards to the door sharing a friend's giant umbrella. After the post-concert reception, we headed to the exit and opened the door. "Oh, no," we said. DH added, "I'll have to get the car." As soon as he stepped out the door, tropical storm Fay snapped the umbrella into a tangled mess. As we drove home, we passed a large commercial sign in the road, and we watched as another blew free and fell to the ground. We saw two transformers send out fireworks as the traffic lights began to go out, and our power was out for a day-and-a-half, all together.

We lost a tree limb, and small areas of our sidewalk are under water, but other than that, we've just gotten some much-needed precipitation.

But I will miss the big umbrella.