“He found an enormous old umbrella in the trunk. His wife had won it in a raffle head to collect funds for the colonel’s party. That same night they had attended an outdoor show which was not interrupted despite the rain. The colonel, his wife, and their son, Agustín — who was then eight — watched the show until the end, seated under the umbrella. Now Agustín was dead, and the bright satin material had been eaten away by the moths.” (5)
Gabriel García Márquez, “No One Writes To The Colonel”

Francisco de Goya. The Parasol (1777). Museo del Prado, Madrid.
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umbrell’a
n.
1. Light circular canopy of silk or other material attached to radiating folding frame sliding on a stick carried in the hand as protection against rain or (now usually sunshade, parasol) sun;
Hence umbrella’d [-ed], an adjective.
[from Italian ombrella, a diminutive of ombra, shade from UMBRA]
[umbra -ae f. [a shade, shadow; a shady place; protection; idleness, pleasant rest; a phantom, ghost, shade, semblance; an uninvited guest; a fish, perhaps a grayling].
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A fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn’t think he’d remember. You take me. One day, back in 1896, I was crossing over to Jersey on the ferry, and as we pulled out, there was another ferry pulling in, and on it there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on. She was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn’t see me at all, but I’ll bet a month hasn’t gone by since that I haven’t thought of that girl.
“Citizen Kane”
