brolly.

\ BROL-ee \ , noun;

British Informal .an umbrella.

The online weather robot boasted sunshine and 0% of rain for today and tomorrow in Seattle. The high was 55 and we left our brollies at home and decided to head out on a hike recommended by Kit and Rachel (who are now in Hawaii and are letting us stay in their awesome apartment above a Starbucks!) The Rattlesnake Ledge trail was a four mile roundtrip and not terribly strenuous. So this meant people could chat on their walk because they weren’t breathing too hard, unlike while heading to Yosemite Point. It is such a fascinating thing, hearing four second snippets of conversations as you pass other hikers. I feel as though folks spent time warming up to each other and working up to in depth conversation, and strangers could hear personal snippets all the way to the top of the mountain. Examples from brolly-less strangers:

“This would be a great spot to propose…<sigh>”

“We grew up in a family full of perfectionists. We had to be skinny or we weren’t good enough. So my sister never ate. What she did eat, she threw up to be perfect and skinny.”

“I feel like you’re never listening to what I’m actually trying to say.”