THE ORDINARY PROJECT
The Great Umbrella Parade
“Some umbrellas are built to keep you dry. Ours were built for adventure.”
It is raining before we even get out of the car. Not little rain.
REAL RAIN.
The kind that makes everybody carry umbrellas before they've even decided where they're going. Mine has little hearts. Brother's is rainbow. Mom's is bright red.
We are supposed to be walking to the candy store. The directions lady says she knows where it is. Her phone says she does not.
It keeps telling us to turn around.
So we do.
Then it tells us to turn around again.
I think phones get confused in the rain.
Would you look at that.
A giant swimming pool.
It's hiding right in the middle of all the buildings like it doesn't want anybody to find it.
I knew today was going to be interesting.
I jump.
I wave at the pool.
Brother does not.
Brother is already looking a little finished with this adventure.
Then the rain gets bigger.
So we tiptoe all the way around the pool until we find the biggest bushes I've ever seen.
They make excellent hiding spots.
The rain can't find us in there.
Mostly.
We keep walking. Or wandering. It's hard to tell. Oh! A horse! One of the kind outside the stores. Brother keeps walking. I do not. Some things are much too important to walk past.
I climb right on.
The horse doesn't move.
I don't mind.
Pretending works just as well.
Would you look at that.
An ice cream shop. They must have put it right there for lost people.
I think that's very thoughtful of them.
It isn't open yet.
Which is the silliest thing I've heard all day because rainy days are exactly when people need ice cream and it's clear the directions lady is not taking us to the candy store.
So we decide to wait.
The rain gets bigger.
Then bigger again.
Now it's absolutely showing off.
Brother says he's finished with the rain. I don't think the rain heard him.
Everybody is running underneath awnings and into coffee shops. We do too. Mostly because dancing looks much more fun under neon lights. So we dance. Then mom tells us we can splash in puddles, this is especially exciting because I have my red cowgirl boots on. They're not regular boots.
They're super jumping boots.
You can tell because I jump much higher when I wear them. Watch.
Once we had splashed in every puddle... I realized something...
Waiting isn't very exciting.
Finally the doors open.
Before we go inside, we have a very important meeting.
We decide the rain can come too...
if it promises not to melt the ice cream.
It never actually promises.
But we let it come anyway.
The ice cream tastes better after getting rained on.
I don't know why.
It just does.
When we finally leave, I look at my little heart umbrella. Brother looks at his rainbow one. Mom is still holding the bright red umbrella. And that's when I figure something out.
Some umbrellas are built to keep you dry. Ours were built for adventure.
A Few Things I Remember
Along the Way
The rain never once asked us to go home.
The umbrellas were carried more like flags than shelters.
We never did find the candy store.
No one minded.
The children trusted every puddle. Sometimes getting wonderfully lost is the whole point.
Some adventures are only possible because nothing went according to plan.
YOUR TURN
Every Story Begins Somewhere.
This one began with a rainy forecast and absolutely no intention of staying inside.
The next might begin with sunshine after the storm, a fairy hunt in the garden, cookies before breakfast, one more scoop, or a little red balloon drifting across a field.
Whatever it is.
That's where we'll begin.
Begin Your Story →CONTINUE READING
Turn The Page
Every ordinary day holds another story.
