An Ounce of Prevention

 

Photo credit: Robsalot (that's me!)

I decided not to bring my umbrella. I know, its England, and its December, but I figured if I brought my umbrella, then we were sure to have rain, where as if I didn’t, then perhaps we would get lucky.

“What do you mean you didn’t bring an umbrella!” Missy exclaimed as we walked out of Terminal One of the Heathrow Airport into a wall of water pouring from the dark clouds above the late December day.

“I already told you about my theory.” I replied as I stuck my hand out from underneath the taxi stand overhang.

“Well, that’s fucking stupid,” she replied, “you obviously got it backwards. If you had brought the umbrella, then it wouldn’t have rained, thus making your carrying of it all the way from California useless, but because you didn’t bring it, we are now cursed an entire trip of nothing but rain!”

I couldn’t do anything but shrug. She might’ve had a point.

I’d always wanted to visit London during the Holidays. After years of seeing amazing light displays and festive holiday windows on my Insta feed, I’d finally saved up enough money. The only thing that remained was to find a travel partner, and I managed to entice my best friend since 4^th grade into coming along, with tales of spectacular parks all dressed up in red and yellow leaves, and streets sparkling in pure white snow. Now, though, it looked like we would not be having a white Christmas, so much as a wet Christmas.

We’d been in London for 3 days, a time that had been defined by cozy cafes, fascinating museums, and a constant barrage of water from the sky. As we emerged from our cozy little B&B, all stuffed full of fried eggs with a side of beans and rich black tea, Missy rolled her eyes at me.

“Oh look Liv, it’s raining again!”

“Yes, but how cute have we looked romping through the puddles in our wellies?” I replied as I jumped into a rather large one that had formed in the gutter.

“Ug,” she sighed, “can you at least promise you’ll buy an umbrella today? It’s the only way to break our curse.”

“Fine,” I replied, “whatever will make you happy.” By this point I was pretty convinced that giving in and buying an umbrella would only seal our fate for the rest of the trip.

The morning was spent at Tate Modern, where we found the only thing that reveled the artwork was the architecture of the building itself. By noon it was still pouring outside, so we decided to grab a coffee and a bite at the little café. As we finished our meal I ducked out, claiming a need for the restroom, but I had something else in mind.

When I returned, Missy had apparently steeled herself against the weather and was ready to head outside again, but as we walked through the front doors, we saw our world had changed, instead of a soggy grey landscape, we were greeted with the soft white world of the season’s first snow.

“Well, how about that” I said as discreetly hid my brand-new gift shop umbrella deep inside my purse.