Homecoming
One of my favorite times of year in our rural Minnesota town is Homecoming week. There’s excitement in the air. Candidates are paraded and crowned king and queen. Daily “spirit” events are ongoing at the high school—career day, geek day, spirit day, etc… Since my eldest daughter is on Student Council she’s particularly involved in the goings on. The week began with Coronation and will wrap up with the annual Sloppy Joe Feed and football game on Friday, and of course the dance on Saturday.
One of the Homecoming traditions in our town is that seniors take it upon themselves to toilet paper the homes of juniors. Since my daughter is a junior you can guess what happened at our house after coronation—toilet paper everywhere. A full case worth (24 rolls) stretched across our expansive lawn in a lazy white breeze. I first noticed the strands when I came upstairs to rock the baby before bed that night. There it was, wrapped around our large birdfeeder not ten feet from the big front window—the brazen kids! Caitlin got home late after cleaning up the auditorium from coronation so she didn’t have a chance to clean it up until the next night when it had become shredded by a day’s worth of wind.
The high school too was toilet papered as well as “forked”—this is where plastic forks are stuck in the ground across a lawn. It makes mowing tricky! The local grocery store tries to foil these wily seniors by “carding” any teenager trying to buy toilet paper the week of homecoming. The kids drive to St. Peter for the white stuff.
On Friday, the high school and football stands will be packed. Even those whose children are long gone from home will attend the game to root for the home team. It’s one of those times when everyone comes together, when we truly feel like a community, even if it means a little toilet paper in our trees.
More later,
Traci
One of the Homecoming traditions in our town is that seniors take it upon themselves to toilet paper the homes of juniors. Since my daughter is a junior you can guess what happened at our house after coronation—toilet paper everywhere. A full case worth (24 rolls) stretched across our expansive lawn in a lazy white breeze. I first noticed the strands when I came upstairs to rock the baby before bed that night. There it was, wrapped around our large birdfeeder not ten feet from the big front window—the brazen kids! Caitlin got home late after cleaning up the auditorium from coronation so she didn’t have a chance to clean it up until the next night when it had become shredded by a day’s worth of wind.
The high school too was toilet papered as well as “forked”—this is where plastic forks are stuck in the ground across a lawn. It makes mowing tricky! The local grocery store tries to foil these wily seniors by “carding” any teenager trying to buy toilet paper the week of homecoming. The kids drive to St. Peter for the white stuff.
On Friday, the high school and football stands will be packed. Even those whose children are long gone from home will attend the game to root for the home team. It’s one of those times when everyone comes together, when we truly feel like a community, even if it means a little toilet paper in our trees.
More later,
Traci
2 Comments:
Tee-peed trees....Fun!
My husband is a high school teacher in rural Indiana and I would gladly take the t.p. Around here the little hoodlums have the mailbox demolition derby during homecoming week. The good news is my husband teaches welding. You could hit our mailbox with a hummer and it would still be in tact. I love your books. Keep up the good work.
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