Photo by cjessen/Courtesy of morguefile.com
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. Well it has temporarily stopped but here in Beaumont, Texas, — which receives an average of somewhere around 58 inches annually — it is sure to eventually return. That shall likely be sooner than later a glance at the radar tells me.
Looking out the window in my office building this afternoon I noticed that so many people were going to and fro sans umbrella. That isn’t all that surprising to me, though if you were from elsewhere and knew that a certain locale received almost five feet of rain each year, you would think everyone would have an umbrella to the ready.
But no. Not here. Not in East Texas nor Southeast Texas. I haven’t really paid that much attention to a lot of other places because I don’t typically think of rain unless it’s raining or if there is a drought, but I think the lack of umbrella may be part of the Texas and/or Southern machismo.
I first noticed this in college with guys especially. Real men didn’t carry umbrellas. Sometimes I don’t carry an umbrella as was the case today when I stopped by the office. I had every intention of bringing my umbrella into the office as one was in my pickup. And the clouds were an ominous dark blue with thunder rumbling about. But no. ¿Quien is mas macho? Not me. Just stupid.
Perhaps I should tie an umbrella around my neck, or have some type of scabbard for my umbrella. I could wear a pair of my cargo pants and my boonie hat. That’d look macho for sure. But I jest. But I jest better git as they say in these parts. Stay dry.