Umbrellas

Where I grew up in Idaho it rarely rained. And when it did, it didn't last long. There was very little reason to be outside in the rain. You'd just wait until it stopped raining.

Now snow was another matter. We lived at about 5,000 feet elevation and it snowed all winter starting about the end of October well into April. 

But, anyway, you had no need for an umbrella.

Then I moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!). And you had to walk between classes in the incessant rain. And walking to the bus stop. And waiting for the bus. And walking from the bus stop to where you lived. You needed an umbrella or you got soaked. 

These days a lot of Seattle and environ natives don't bother with umbrellas. They just dress for wet weather. But that didn't seem to be the case when I lived there in the early 1980s.

And I literally had to ask someone where to buy an umbrella. They looked at me as if I were nuts. Like, how could I not know that. 

So I bought an umbrella at Sears.

When I went back to college in the early 90s, I don't remember people, including me, using umbrellas. 

I still have an umbrella, even though I live now where we get 8 inches of rain a year. But I use it if I go to the West/wet side of the state.

Do you own/use an umbrella. Why or why not? Let me know in the comments below.