Goodbye Faithful Umbrella

My faithful umbrella. A small black umbrella that fir perfectly in the sidepocket of my backpack.
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I know I bought it in 2004 before I went to Baghdad.

I would get a few comments while in Baghdad because there was my umbrella sticking out of my backpack, I must have been an optimist! It probably rained 3 times the entire time I was there and never hard enough for me to use my umbrella.

And then came 8 months in Virginia, it stayed in my backpack, got some use.

Then came a year in Saudi Arabia, kept it with me just as a joke. I think it may have sprinkled once while I was there.

Then two years in Uruguay and it saw some use there, always with my backpack.

Bring it to Sri Lanka and it barely lasted 8 months. The first time I took it out a big wind gust bent it up and broke one of the rods. Then today, big windy rainy day and my poor umbrella took a beating as soon as I opened it, this time for good.

So as we arrived at the apartment I unceremoniously opened the trash chute door and bid thee farewell. It's time for a new umbrella.