Raindrops keep falling on my head

I saw sunshine today for the first time in a week and I can't express to you how happy that made me. Despite what you may think, the 'shades of gray' don't refer to the Seattle sky or weather. Although it could have quite easily been referring to my state of mind the last couple of days. I knew that I was looking at a rainy winter when I moved out here, no illusions about that. But you'd think that someplace so used to rain would have the capacity to handle heavy rain, apparently not. Over the past couple days gutters have turned into streams and you can't step off a curb without looking to see how deep the puddle is and decide whether you want wet feet and shoes or really wet feet and shoes. I'm not exaggerating.

You'd think in an area where they get so much rain umbrellas would be more readily available. In Japan, umbrellas are so common they're treated just like any other accessory, like bags or hats. They have their own section in department stores and are sold year round, even sun parasols (not to be confused with beach parasols) are still quite common in Japan during the summer time. And the best part is that the umbrellas are fun! They're not all flimsy, collapsible, black numbers that are so common here. I remember the umbrellas I had growing up, they were memorable much like a favorite jacket or stuffed animal. One of my favorites had a red gingham check fabric and a wooden handle in the shape of a hippopotamus' head. And my grandmother's been using the same purple cotton eyelet sun parasol since before I was born. There is an umbrella subculture in Japan and I miss it - or maybe I just miss having umbrellas period. Why don't I have an umbrella here anyway?