(Technically, it’s now Saturday. Oh, well.)
It was a dark and stormy night. It was also a dark and stormy afternoon. In fact, I took this photo on Thursday, a few minutes before 3 p.m, i.n the parking lot of Panera. As we waited inside for our takeout order a few minutes later, the wind gusted to 70 mph. The restaurant has a few tables with umbrellas outside. A gust ripped two umbrellas from their tables. An employee raced outside and managed to save one. The other umbrella was already gone, spiraling away like Dorothy’s house in the Wizard of Oz. It blew across the parking lot and was lost in the gloom. We grabbed our food and scurried to the car just before the deluge began. As we drove away, my son spotted the missing umbrella on the side of the highway — the opposite side from where Panera is. I’m glad I wasn’t driving along when a large umbrella suddenly whirled across Route 1.
The Petrini Page 