There's nothing like a backyard bonfire to keep your teenagers at home. 
We bought a fire bowl last week so that our two teenagers would have a way to spend time with their friends, and we'd have the security of knowing where they are and what they're doing. We're not too worried that they don't know about fire safety--many of the kids who've been hanging out here are Boy Scouts, and they know how to build a good campfire.
I don't know where they think they'll get the kindling, though, because we don't have very many trees here. I've already caught some of their friends pulling branches off the big pine tree in the front yard. And I'll admit that it's tempting, when I drive down the neighborhood streets and see piles of sticks left over from someone else's yard cleanup, waiting for the chipper truck to come along and turn them into mulch, to stop the car and pick up a handful. It hasn't come to that yet, but if they keep scalping the trees in the yard, I'll be forced to resort to such drastic methods. Either that or I'll have to make some friends who have trees on their property.
Next time we visit my parents and Dad takes the kids on a hike in the woods, they'd better not be looking for animal bones and Indian arrowheads. Instead, I'll hand them each a bucket and tell them to load up on kindling.
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