It grows on trees

I was listening to talk radio as I like to do while driving in the car.   There was a story about the toilet paper shortage that Cuba is experiencing right now.   Apparently Cubans are paying the equivalent of 2 days pay for a roll of toilet paper if you can find it.  The average Cuban makes $20 per week so that would make a roll of toilet paper worth $8.   That's like flushing money down the toilet.    This shortage has started a new industry in Cuba.   People are rushing out and buying as many newspapers as they can every morning -  for only 7 cents.   They in turn resell them as toilet paper for 70 cents.

Well we don't have that problem here.   We found out that toilet paper grows on trees and we just happen to have the right kind of trees in our yard.

They seem to blossom at night but there is no way of knowing what night.    A couple weeks ago Judy and I were "waiting up" for everyone to get home on a Saturday night.

(A picture of me "waiting up") 

There was a loud noise that woke both of us up.   It sounding like something had fallen down.   I went upstairs but couldn't see anything out of place - then...

 I looked out the window - and what did I see?

(You could sing this to the tune of "Popcorn Popping")

Toilet paper growing on our crabapple tree

  

The trees had brought me such a nice surpise

  

TP growing right before my eyes.

  

It was about 2 or 2:30 am when we discovered that the trees had blossomed.  Judy and I spend the next 1/2 hour harvesting the crop.    We had enough to fill 2 large garbage bags.

  

This last Friday was the first night of our Stake Youth Conference.   I came home around 11pm  and the girls came home just after midnight.   In that time our trees had blossomed again.   The girls came home to discover another crop of toilet paper.   We didn't get any picture of the crop before harvest but we did get some of the girls harvesting the crop with some friends.   This was a much bigger harvest than the last one.

  

Jenelle and Jamie trying to harvest the toilet paper high in the tree

  

The crew with the harvest.

  

Inspecting the harvest.

  

A close up of the harvest. 

  

  

So we went to bed only to wake up to find out that a tree can produce 2 crops in 1 night.   

  

We woke up on Saturday morning to this:

Yet another crop of TP on our tree.

  

As impressive as this crop looks, the crop earlier was even better.

  

That's me harvesting the TP high in the tree.

  

I counted the rolls on this one.  35.   

  

Who ever did this should have sold it to Cuba.  At  $8 a roll they could have sold it for $280.   And this was the smallest harvest of the 3 crops.   

Just think - assuming that the other crops were the same size - maybe slightly larger - if all our crops were sold to Cuba - we could have made close to $900.  

  

Now I know where toilet paper comes from.