It is a blustery day. Sadly, I failed to weigh up just how blustery it really is before putting up my umbrella, which proceeded to turn inside out as one of the tines snapped. Alas, my umbrella is now deceased. It has passed on. It's a stiff. It is, in fact, an ex-umbrella.
However, I can't help but take a certain satisfaction that I at least got my money's worth from the umbrella:
Many years ago (well, four), Glasgow hosted the Special Olympics. And, being a piper who was at the time between jobs (literally - I had a new job, but had not yet started), I was asked by the organising committee to play the pipes as the torch run passed through Motherwell. And so, I went.
That, too, was a rainy day, but actually that adjective doesn't do it justice. It was the sort of day that might inspire Ark-building. Also, en route to the appointed place I managed to lose my way.
And so it was that I decided to stop at the sports centre closest to Motherwell town centre to ask for directions. However, moving from the car (in the car park) to the building itself, I became utterly soaked. In 200 yards or so, I went from warm and dry to so thoroughly wet that no more water could have been absorbed - my clothing was totally saturated.
I asked for, and was given directions. But so potent were my Jedi mind-tricks on that day that the people in the sports centre felt it was not enough to merely give the assistance I rejected: some further tribute was necessary.
They first offered that I could remove my shirt, and they would dry it for me. Alas, I demurred, I was in a hurry so could not accept. And so, they instead offered me an umbrella from their "Lost & Found" box. Initially I was hesitant, as this was presumably an umbrella that someone had Lost - what if they returned seeking it?
But it was a very rainy day, so at length I accepted this tribute. At which point, of course, it stopped raining.
That umbrella has been with me since that day, and has done mighty service in Motherwell, in Glasgow, in Yeovil, in Falkirk, and even in France. Alas, those days are now done.
#4: "Pathfinder: Into the Darklands" by James Jacobs and Greg A. Vaughan
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