from shirley's cottage

It isn’t raining rain, you know,--

For two week-ends in a row, it was raining bathroom tissue on Ripley Road, and a few other select streets in town.
How long has it been the Cambridge High graduating tradition to teepee the trees? A very thorough job of it was done two week-ends in a row.
The day after the first one, I saw one lady out with a long picker. She was trying to get the paper out of her trees. As she shook the branches, a full roll fell from a high branch and rolled across the road. She just stood there and shook her head.
Two years ago I wrote about the tradition. There were even a few pictures in the paper. I teased some of the neighbors who got upset. I said no harm was done and the kids could be doing worse things.. Why, I said, didn’t they remember when they graduated? Some of them were even on the teepee brigade all those years ago. I bet some of the old-timers even tipped over an out-house or two.
I prided myself on not being an old biddy and understanding how "the kids" feel. When it happened again the next week-end, farther down the road, I wasn’t quite so sure how I felt..
The second set of trees are thicker and taller. How those kids got that tissue up that high, I don’t know. It was hanging from the tallest branches.
The wind was coming from the lake. So everything was blowing in the breeze. Paper blew across my windshield.. When I got home, it was attached under my car, and around my rear view mirrors.
We needed rain. We got it. The rain turned that bathroom tissue into icky old toilet paper. It clung and hung to the branches, taking its time to bio-degrade itself. Until finally there are just a few straggles on the upper most branches. Graduation and the annual prank is over for another year.
Thanks to the utility company, I don’t have any trees to get decorated. But I got to thinking, two week-ends might be a little over-kill.
So even though it was not in my yard, it was on my road. And on my car. I guess I still lean on the side of the kids. But it sure did make a mess for several days. . Once a year is enough. Okay? Until next year.
The real decoration was all the balloons. Everywhere you looked there were blue and white balloons; on mailboxes, decks, in yards. Parties were in abundance. Congratulations to all the graduates.
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Even though it is a busy time and everyone is in a hurry, good food and recipes are abundant. What better time to make this cake for any party.
In-a-Hurry Chocolate nut-topped Cake
From my favorite Ladies Auxiliary Harmony Singing Society Cookbook
you will need:
1 package chocolate cake mix (without pudding)
1 large box chocolate pudding (not instant)
2 cups milk
1 ½ cups chocolate bits
1 c chopped walnuts
whipped cream (optional)
cook pudding with milk as directed
add cake mix stirring until well blended
Spread in sprayed 9x12 pan
Top with chocolate bits and nuts.
Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees
Serve with whipped cream, if desired
Enjoy
P.S. For butterscotch cake use yellow cake mix, butterscotch pudding and butterscotch bits