In Anticipation of Precipitation

Weather is a great metaphor for life—

sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad,

and there’s nothing much you can do about it

but carry an umbrella.

~Terri Guillemets

I used to hate it when it rained.

I suspect I may have a touch of the Seasonal Affective Disorder, or maybe everyone does to some extent; I become depressed every year as winter drags on and spring seems no closer. Waking up on a gray day does nothing for my mood; rain seems like a personal insult; cold winter rain a suggestion that maybe the world doesn’t really require my presence today.

But, what can you do? Say complain on Facebook and I will cut you.

The weather- it just is, and there’s nothing you can do about it but make the best of things.

Or…. you can stack the chips.

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Once upon a time, all our umbrellas looked like this.

Now, I have nothing against a sensible black umbrella. In fact nearly everything I own is sensible and black.

For a dreary and cold rainy day, though, I have a secret stash of happy hung up in the hallway closet.

The color wheel umbrella at the top of this post was my Christmas present from Jeff’s Nanny. Is it not lovely? A rainbow in the storm.

Depending on her mood, Cass can be a monkey, or if she’s feeling a bit girly she can channel her inner Audrey.

Either way it makes me smile to see her prancing in the rain, even though I know full well she is going to splash in every blessed puddle between our door and our destination. The girl wears mud like a fine cologne- a stage that I both loathe, and fear the day she grows out of.

I plan to add some blue skies to our collection soon:

Especially since it reminds me of one of my favorite prints, hanging in our living room.

Oh, hang on, Mr. Squirrel! Who knows what fine adventures await you!

I’ve mentioned before how much I love the “polite umbrella”— for when you must venture into a crowd in less-than-ideal weather conditions.

I feel like it should make a little embarrassed murmur when you pull the cord. “Oh, my. Pardon me, good sir.” (For the record, I also think there should be an alternate horn on your steering wheel that does the same thing, a little “excuse me” for when you accidentally cut someone off or simply must get over into the next lane before you miss your turn.)

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I eagerly await the day that someone loves me enough to fashion me an LED umbrella. Then, I will be straight-up volunteering to take long walks in the dark in the rain.

Because, come on. How incredibly awesome is this?

What, are you going to let that languish in a closet when you could offer a ray of sunshine to everyone whose path you cross?

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It’s the little things that make us happy. I hate the sound of my telephone ringing, so I changed the ringtone to the theme song from “Sanford & Son.” Granted, I am no more likely to answer the thing, but at least now I dance when it goes off, rather than cringe.

If you hate waking up in the morning, tape a funny picture to the front of your alarm clock so that it’s the first thing you see when you open your eyes.

If you hate being assaulted by the cold air when you first get out of bed, splurge on a pair of cushy slippers and a plush robe whose coziness you’ll look forward to.

And so on. You know what your triggers are… no reason to keep allowing them to mess with you.

How do you cheer yourself out of a funk, weather-induced or no?

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No affiliate links here, meaning I make no cash monies if you buy anything through the links in this post. However, if you’re looking to add some sunshine to a cloudy day:

The color wheel umbrella and the sky umbrella are both available through the MOMA museum store.

The Paul Frank monkey umbrella came from Target. Cass has matching sneaks and sheets. She likes monkeys.

The pink frilly umbrella we got to shield us from the sun at Epcot (while in France!) Since it was reasonably priced, I suspect you can pick these up at a craft store for next to nothing and spray with a weather sealant.

Hold On Mr. Squirrel is a print from the hushmouse Etsy shop. We’ve purchased a number of Maggie’s prints over the years and framed them as baby presents. And, ohmygawd, she now has adorable stuffies to boot. Somebody lock up my credit card!

I’m hitting a dead end with the polite umbrella- I think maybe it was just a design concept and not something you can actually buy 🙁

And you can find DIY instructions for the LED Electric Umbrella at Instructables if you’re handy like that.