It's National Umbrella Day!

 
We don't need 'em too often in Southern California, but when it does get wet, isn't it nice to have a big, colorful bumbershoot? The students above, going to classes at UCLA on a day last fall, were glad; so were the surfers at Newport Beach, right.

So today we commemorate National Umbrella Day and say thanks for being there when we need you.

-- Susan Denley

Top photo: Students at UCLA change classes in the rain. Credit: Annie Cusack/Los Angeles Times Bottom photo: Surfers wait out a shower at Newport Beach. Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times