Raincity

Rain showers are not something that restrict themselves to April in Vancouver, or cease with the bloom of May flowers. Despite having had what seems like the driest autumn and winter I can recall--having grown up here--I worried about whether Jacky would get any sunshine during her visit. Vancouver's more than 1100mm average annual rainfall has earned the city the nickname Raincity. In springtime, it's wise to pack both your umbrella and sunglasses when heading out for the day.

On the subject umbrellas, I once overheard a girl talking about the unofficial "Umbrella System," whereby nobody actually buys umbrellas; instead, there exists an intricate system of using umbrellas one finds or acquires. This girl, however, found herself to be "inputting into this system a lot more often than receiving." I'm not sure if this system is unique to this very rainy city, but I feel it exists and that I've unconsciously been abiding by it nearly my entire life.

I can't recall how I acquired my favourite geometric umbrella, it seems to have simply appeared in my house.  After years of faithful service, I found and purchased another red/blue/cream geometric umbrella to take its place. In fact, I have an umbrella that I bought in Rome for 5 euros when we were washed out Christmas Eve that I'm trying to input into the system by organically losing it.