Woody Cavenaugh

Every day we are surrounded by a swirling mass of people, places, things, emotions, information, and chaos all on top of the usual weather, animal, vegetable, or mineral. It can be daunting at the best of times. All one can do is focus on what is in front of you and filter the rest out.

But filtering doesn't make the chaos go away, you're just holding an umbrella in a rain storm. Its all you can do to keep your head dry, as your shoes get soaked. It wicks up your pants legs, and the people around you have to dodge and weave trying not to have an eye gouged while all you can do is hope a wind doesn't come up and rip your fragile little shelter away.

Day in and day out of this can wear even a rock down, just ask Niagara Falls. We do what we can to make the most of what were dealing with. Some smoke, some drink, some do drugs, some do prescription drugs. I eat fried chicken, and sometimes I say mean things to those closest to me. I'm not trying to hurt them anymore than I'm trying to weigh 300 pounds. I'm just fighting the wind beneath my fragile little umbrella trying to keep my head dry.

Lots of people offer solutions. I do a Google maps search and I get 10,637 hits for churches near Greensboro, NC. That's a lot of churches offering a little corner of their umbrellas. That's a lot of gods, though I imagine 10,000 of them will tell you that there is only one and if you join up with them you'll get a corner of gods own umbrella, and no one will accidentally get their feet stepped on while you walk. The rest are going to get soaked, but that's their own faults picking the wrong umbrella.

I found listings for about 4,958 for bars near Greensboro, NC. They won't help you with your umbrella, but they can offer you a place where for a short time you with a lot of other people who've lost their umbrellas, can for a just a little while forget that your hair is in your gouged eyes and your cloths are soaked. They won't care that you look like a drowned rat, they're soaked too.

Google maps says there is 1,222 hits for psychologist near Greensboro, NC and about 860 hits for psychiatrist. They are offering to help you find your own umbrella again, get it turned right side out, and get it back up over your head again. All you have to do tell them exactly where you lost your umbrella, and how your going to fix it. You might also have to take a pill, so you won't mind being wet in the mean time.

The drug companies are out there trying to sell you things to make your umbrella seem bigger, stronger, or more durable, while thugs in the streets are doing the same things without FDA approval or marketing campaigns. The reality is that your umbrella is the same, you just don't care about being wet as much anymore.

I'm trying to use the umbrella I have, to see it for its strengths and its weaknesses. Sure its a little bent, and one of the fasteners that holds the fabric to the frame on one bit keeps coming off. But if I hold it just right, and I lean it just so, all by myself I can keep my face and hair dry, see a clear path on the sidewalk and make my way to my destination without getting any wetter, or putting anyone's eyes out I by walking too close to them. Sure my shoes are wet just like everyone else's, and yes the rain does wick up my pants legs too, but if I do what I believe to be the right thing and walk what I believe to be the best path, when I get to where I'm going, there will be dry socks, a pair of pants, and a steaming hot cup of coco waiting there for me.

Marshmallows too.