I mentioned yesterday that I’d seen a handful of broken umbrella’s strewn on downtown Oakland sidewalks. When the drizzle finally let up this afternoon I hopped on the ol’ Schwinn cruiser for a quick turn around the lake. I was not surprised to see another dead umbrella. Sadly, though, this particular cast-off was not on the sidewalk, it was in the middle of the street and cars were rolling over it, adding to the damage done by the weather. The cloth which covered the cheaply made mechanical structure was an American flag, so I parked my bike to retrieve the umbrella from the middle of the street.
The damage was significant. I propped it up next to the street by sticking the handle into a garbage can with the flag end waving in the breeze.