Last week I pulled into the hospital parking lot (one of many trips to many different hospitals that week, actually) to visit an ailing member. It was one of those gray, rainy days that tend to make my mood match the gray. Mind you, it was not a driving downpour, just a steady rain that I know is good for the ground but nonetheless do not much care for.
Parking spots are almost always hard to come by at this hospital, especially any spots actually near to the entrance itself. But on this particular day, I found one just across the driveway from the entrance and only about 30 feet from the cover of the awning. I smiled, knowing I could cover that distance in just a few seconds.
It never ever would have occurred to me to reach for an umbrella at that moment.
And yet, that is exactly what occurred to me, Mr. Alpha Male, Mr. (in my mind) Invincible. I always have it wedged right between my seat and the center console in case of Noahic-flood-level deluges.
I immediately shook that thought off. I did not need the umbrella. But as I reached for the door handle, I immediately felt the urge hit me again. And so I simply shrugged and did the least likely thing for me at that moment; I grabbed the umbrella, opened the door, then the umbrella, exited the truck, closed the door and started walking the 30 feet to cover.