Don't say I didn't warn you

My March blog banner was meant to be a prophetic signal for the month to come (read: It's gonna rain. Then it's gonna rain some more). But I'm finding that my umbrella is more of a liability than a friend these days. When it's raining sideways, an umbrella provides minimal protection between you and soggy you. Everyone has to face the point in their Vancouver winter weather life where they make the significant choice to abandon their umbrella altogether and construct a near-rainproof outfit that doesn't flip inside out and make you look like a fool when it's windy. My day has almost come; I've been resisting it with great futility and my excuses for carrying an umbrella have been reduced to useless dither. When I'm still soaking wet from head to toe (except my feet which are  fantastically warm and dry thanks to my red rain booties!) after carrying an umbrella, it becomes nothing but a cumbersome carry-on. When I'm already juggling a lunch bag, school bag and cup of coffee, I have no patience for another item that, frankly, isn't performing its only duty. Keeping myself dry with an umbrella has become a clumsy sidewalk ballet that always ends in failure. It's a battle that I no longer have the energy to fight. With my hair tucked in a toque, and my head bowed down against a wall of rain, I'll trudge forward umbrella-less until April showers bring May flowers and I can wear regular footwear again.