A Better Class of Scarecrow

When we were passing through my m-i-l’s house on our recent trip over the Pond, I made a dash up the road to do a little bit of Find-A-Grave at St. Swithun’s--a wonderful old church and yard.   

It was a gorgeous sunny day as was the peace of my solo walk through the village.  While walking down Church Lane I was a bit startled to see this out by the recycling. 

Upon closer inspection I was more impressed than fearful. Still, odd and random I thought. Then I found a few more offerings and I figured there had to be a reason.  Sure enough, I found a bill tacked to a pole announcing a village scarecrow contest.  I wondered if any of the ones I’d seen had been the winner.   With all due respect to Dorothy’s friend the Scarecrow, (not a euphemism), we could do so much better in the US with our native scarecrows.  The plaid shirt and jeans look is so overdone.  Our scarecrows are just friendly icons of the fall, not something that would give a bird a pause before proceeding, much less a human.