umbrellas are for sissies

I really like the rain, but I am not an umbrella girl. That is unless it is a torrential downpour and I am wearing some dry clean only clothes or attending some major event in which I must appear well coiffed. I say let it rain. I actually like the feeling of getting wet, I love feeling those cool tiny droplets on my skin. It really doesn't bother me at all. When ever I see people with umbrellas I am reminded of a minor story by Isaac Asimov I read in Jr. High called "Rain, Rain Go Away" about some people with peculiar neighbors, the Sakkaros, who in the end turned out to be made of sugar. This snippet of science fiction always pops in my head when it rains and someone offers me an umbrella- and my first response is usually- "That is okay- I won't melt". As a child I used to play "rain" by setting up my smurf sprinkler in the front yard and then sitting under it in my swimsuit with an umbrella (my way of blocking out the sunlight which would ruin my carefully crafted illusion. Then I would stick my arms and legs out so I could feel the rain fall on me. My parents attempt to civilize me by giving me their extra umbrellas when they come to visit,(because I don't buy them) but to no avail, they sit in the closet until they come and rouse them to use or my children question how these novel button and spoked objects work.


A picture of some of my favorite rain circa 2000- in Siberia- I was 12 weeks pregnant with smart son at the time and the cool misty rain was the one thing that kept me from spending the entire trip vomiting!