The Germans call it a regen-schirm.  In Swahili, it is a mwavuli.  It is referred to as a guarda chuva in Lisbon, a sateenvarjko in Helsinki. Japanese make reference to a koomorigsaa, and in Moscow it is referred to as a zonk.

Perhaps only in Seattle is an annual civic festival celebrated under the symbol of a bumbershoot.

It rains cups, pints and buckets during a typical Edmonds winter. But you will sometimes see eight or nine pedestrians along Fifth Avenue or Main Street before you spot one huddled under an umbrella.  

If you take a waterfront stroll from Brackett's Landing to Marina Park, respite from showers is provided by slickers, hoodies, Gortex capes, and Navy pea jackets. You might even encounter a barefoot man with a long beard wearing shorts and measuring Puget Sound temperatures with a thermometer.  But an umbrella is a rare sight.

Despite this accumulation of evidence we're not dummies.

We recognize winter rains.  But we are not intimidated by precipitation.  

We can chart the path of storm clouds as they skim over the Olympics and creep, dripping, over landmarks known as Desolation Sound and Cape Disappointment.  But we come from hearty pioneer stock.  Weather does not confound us.

Historians tell us the basic umbrella was invented over four thousand years ago. We have seen evidence of umbrellas in the ancient art and artifacts of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and China.

These ancient umbrellas or parasols were first designed to provide shade from the sun. The Chinese were the first to waterproof their umbrellas for use as rain protection. They waxed and lacquered their paper parasols in order to use them for protection against rain.  

In Europe it was considered an accessory suitable only for women until a Persian traveler and writer named Jonas Hanway carried one through London streets during rainy weather and set a fashion style.

I've spotted a few Hanways in Edmonds-area directories. But none are described as well diggers, barn builders or mountain goat ranchers.  Granted, neither are any of them listed as Persian travelers or "European dandies."

Well, we know one when we see one.   And if somebody pops open a sateenvarjko in your face during the first sprinkle of an Edmonds morning you have to be suspicious.  

The next fashion style to invade Edmonds might include spats and a cumberbund.