Signs of the Season (I)

We'll call it simply a gathering of scarecrows, but it could be "rowdy of scarecrows, a "grinning of scarecrows", a "standing of scarecrows" or a "leaning of scarecrows" just as easily.

The grinning crew are all together in a bin outside the local supermarket, and they are tucked safely under the wide roof and well out of the rain. Nearby are bins containing sky-high stalks of dried corn, plastic jack-o-lanterns, raffia wreaths and small square bales (horse bales) of yellow oat straw.

The fabric is thin, the workmanship is shoddy, and their existences are short, like those of the other inexpensive Halloween (or Samhain) yard props which are starting to appear in local shops now. I am sure the scarecrows are perfectly aware of all that "stuff", but here they are anyway, smiling widely, eager to please and doing their best to cheer us up in the rain. I love to see them doing it, and I wish I could take them all home.