The Lag B'omer wrap up: better late than never

I was sidetracked by the pope this week and I didn't get around to writing Part Two of the Lag B'Omer Story. I'm going to squeeze in a few remarks even though Lag B'Omer is a thing of the past for 2009 and I have about 333 days before I have to think about it again.

So, here are a few housekeeping notes on Lag B'Omer 2009.

- I would like to thank Zeve's friend Noam, whose father was kind enough to bring his truck and hoist the rotting wooden roof that was sitting in my driveway for five days onto the top of his truck and drive away with it. I don't even care where he took it. I am just glad that it is no longer locked with a very sturdy bicycle lock to a metal pole on the side of my driveway.

- I would like to thank my across-the-street neighbour Dov who found our missing Little Tykes wagon which had been stolen by other neighbourhood kids who probably wanted to use it to haul wood. I don't even mind that some unknown kids took it; I just wish they would have brought it back when they were finished. That said, when Dov called our house to say he found it, it was like Christmas in May!

- I would like to thank Yael's friends' fathers who started a very impressive fire for the girls in Third Grade. I would also like to thank one of her friend's little brothers who worked like a puppy placing rocks around the perimeter of the fire just so he could be part of gang. Then, of course, he stayed long enough to eat a few suitably dirt-drenched hotdogs and went home to bed against his better judgment.

- I would like to thank the teenage girls who happened upon our Third Grade bonfire just as we parents had decided that we had had enough bonfiring for one year and it was time to try to figure out what to do with the fire. It's not like you can just walk away and leave it burning. The teenage chicks fortuitously arrived on the spot and when we offered them our fire, they jumped at the chance to take over a fire that they didn't have to start.

- I would like to thank my kids. Ari thank you for coming home at a reasonable hour of your own volition. Saved me from having to send out a search party. Zeve, thank you for calling home to at least tell us you were sleeping at a friends. And Zeve, thanks again for calling home at 2:30 a.m. to see if we had extra blankets you could pop by and take. We really appreciated that phone call. And Yael, thank you for bringing home two friends to sleep over when we specifically said that one was probably enough. And again, thanks so very much for staying up until 2:30 a.m. when your father said: "I think I hear the television. Go check." Unfortunately, we were up anyway, thanks to Zeve's blankets.

- And finally, thanks to all the people who did not come to my neighbourhood this year to light your fires. I really don't know where you all went but honestly... I don't care. Because you did not celebrate the holiday near my house we actually had enough room to walk to and from the bonfire without fear of being run over by your cars. And while we're at it... don't come next year either.