An Item of Business Pertaining to the Harold B. Lee Library

I'm sure there were those who saw me walking home from campus today who thought I was a little odd. Why? Because it's a beautiful, sunny day... and I am carrying an umbrella. It wasn't open, mind you. But carrying it was enough, I'm sure, for others to come to the conclusion that I am either 1) a pessimist 2) dutifully prepared for every situation, like an overeager girl scout 3) off my rocker, or 3) seriously attached to my umbrella.

I'm not, though (seriously attached to my umbrella, that is). This brings me to my first item of business. A week ago today, it was a gloomy day. The rain was drizzling and dripping down from the dark sponge clouds, and I snatched up my purple, pink, blue and yellow striped umbrella before I walked out the door. Now, let me relate the history of the umbrella. When I moved to Provo and realized my lack of umbrella would lead to excessive and unpleasant sogginess, I set out to purchase an umbrella. When I saw this umbrella, I was immediately attracted to its color and shape. You see, it's not one of those umbrellas that conveniently folds up to a six inch, easily store-able object. This umbrella always retains its three foot height, even after being closed. Anyway. It was a great idea of an umbrella, but after a few days of use, I recognized the inconvenience of carrying it around instead of being able to store it handily in my backpack. So I wasn't too fond of the umbrella.

Okay, back to the rainy day. I was in the Harold B. Lee Library on the BYU campus, on the very bottom floor, in the auditorium, listening to a poetry reading (note the extensive use of prepositional phrases). I had stashed my umbrella under my chair, and was enjoying the reading. When the reading ended, I headed out the door and began my enjoyable 15 minute walk home. About halfway there, I realized that my umbrella was still stashed under my chair in the Harold B Lee Library, on the very bottom floor, in the auditorium. At this point, I had two thoughts in my head: 1) that I wasn't really in the mood to walk all the way back, and 2) that my umbrella was an annoyance, anyway. Decision made, I left the umbrella to rest in peace under the chair, or in a lost and found.

Today, I again found myself in the library for a reading. This week, my writing creative non fiction professor was doing a reading from his new book (plug for Patrick Madden: buy his book! http://www.amazon.com/Quotidiana-Patrick-Madden/dp/0803222963/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267221344&sr=8-1) anyway, as I took my seat, I serendipitously chose the same row, and sitting on the very seat I was about to sit in was nothing other than my umbrella. Maybe we were meant to be together always. Despite its faults, it had served me well and clearly wanted to remain with me until the end of its days.

This time, I did not leave the umbrella.