The Hornets Nest

I decided, since my parents are religiously following my blog, I would give them a few reminders of the "good old days". Ahhh but that begs the question which fond memory shall I begin with? There are so many--it's hard to choose. Like, the time they had a dinner party and I convinced all my cousins visiting from out of town to go outside and B.A. passing cars (bare ass or "moon" for you novice pranksters). Or, there was the time Leslie and I told my parents we were picking lemons for lemonade when in reality we were making lemonade grenades. Or, any one of the numerous times I threw water balloon's off the deck on our three story house onto passing cars. Possibly the time Leslie and I squirted the meter maid with a water bazooka and then made her chase us around downtown Petaluma trying to evade a ticket for loitering. There was the time one of my friends and I (not sure if it was Leslie) taunted the neighbors from the apartment building across the street so badly we had to run home and seek solice in the house from an angry mob of Mexicans. It seems Leslie was my constant companion on these adventures (hopefully her mom isn't reading this blog or she'll be like "Bob...I knew it all along, it was that Cassie that corrupted our innocent little Leslie" (innocent my ass). Anyhow, I know my parents always love to tell the story of the "hornets nest" so let me share a family favorite with you.
For those of you not familiar with my childhood home in Petaluma, I grew up in a beautiful three story Victorian home in a small town on a cozy street where all the neighbors knew each other and took pride in the appearance of their homes. One day when my father (the one who bought the wee alarm) went out on to the upper deck that over looked a vast landscape of rolling hills and grassy meadows he noticed what he thought were rather large hornets nests. He was puzzled and studied them for quite some time. He came into the house and got my mother and asked if she had noticed the hornets nests on the side of the apartment building next to us. She too was puzzled and together they studied the nests for quite some time. After pondering the sudden appearance of these elaborate nests they decided to come in and find me, and of course my partner in crime, Leslie. They told us to step out on to the deck and take a look at the unusual hornets nests. They asked us if we knew anything about them. We did our best to act surprised and said "No, we know nothing about them." They were satisfied for the time being and sent us on our way. Now, I am not certain if the investigation began that day or several days later but my dad, still bothered by these large hornets nests and concerned for our safety from potentially wild africanized hornets decided to spray them forcefully with the hose. As he took on the challenge of ridding our neighbors building of these pests, he became surprised at the "nests" miraculous transformation. As he began to wet the nests he noticed they became heavy and saturated. They began to fall apart rapidly and slid down the side of the apartment building. He called us back on to the deck and said "Cassie...Leslie...watch this girls" he vigorously sprayed the "nests" and we watched in horror as the giant wads of toilet paper we had soaked in the sink and thrown onto the neighbors apartment building began to slid slowly down the wall. We remained silent for a moment, all of us staring at the wall in awe. It was about this time I am quite certain Leslie suggested she had to be leaving and getting back to her house to finish up her chores. I don't remember the resolution to the "nest" incident but because of the frequency of times the story has been told--it must not have been too bad.