Umbrellas

 

No one knows who first invented umbrellas for protection—those small, portable, colorful shields against rain, wind, and sun.

When the elements kick up, we pop open our shelters in a sudden parade of color above our heads.

Children love umbrellas, spinning them in circles like magic shields. Rain drums on the taut fabric, stretched over delicate metal spines that hold everything open, defying gravity and gloom.

If the wind is strong enough, it turns umbrellas inside out—then we laugh. An unruly umbrella is ridiculous, lively, and oddly human.

On blistering sunny days, parasols offer patches of coolness and shade, a simple refusal to surrender to the heat.

Like a kind of armor, umbrellas keep us feeling safe—hidden from the world, from rain, from too much sun. They create a small, private space where we can breathe, smile, or share a moment with someone we love.

Umbrellas make us happy—simple, helpful, necessary—and always there to hold above us a little sky of our own.

Georgia