Thursday, July 12, 2007

SCARECROWS FOR HOPE

Think of things that go together: kittens and warm milk; freezers and ice cream; strawberries and shortcake; toast and jam; scarecrows and hope. Yes really, I mean it. Scarecrows and hope. Could a better match be found anywhere?

Scarecrows were invented thousands of years ago by creative people who realized that standing in their fields scaring the birds off their crops was perhaps not the best use of their time during the busy harvest season. No wonder they have prevailed through the centuries. Scarecrows exemplify so many of the qualities that can make our world a more hopeful place to live.

The scarecrow is a gentle joker, a bundle of cast-offs pretending to be scary, an early alarm who intends no harm. Needed only in times of great bounty, when there is really enough for everyone, scarecrows stand proudly in the raspberry patches proclaiming their hopes. Ï hope you will find some place else for breakfast,” they say to the birds. “These berries are reserved for my family.”

Humble scarecrows are environmentally friendly, made entirely of recycled material! No expensive new duds for scarecrows. They wear whatever is at hand, whatever will flap in the breeze, whatever won’t mind being out in the wind and rain.

Scarecrows are pacifists. One might be a replica of your grandmother in old clothes shooing bothersome birds away. She is the purveyor of gentle warnings, like the traffic reporter who tells you where the radar traps are located. The intent is to keep you safe by giving you notice that somebody cares about what you are doing.

Scary as they might be, scarecrows have a friendly side. Seat one comfortably in your front porch swing. It will not mind if you come to sit beside it. It will gladly grant permission for a photograph. Or if you aren’t the sitting type, you could learn from my widowed friend Mrs. Smith. Shortly after losing her dance partner husband, she created a scarecrow and called him George. Soon she was taking him to the local seniors’ centre and dancing away the afternoons with his head on her shoulder. Seeing that Mrs. Smith had a constant and reliable dance partner, the single ladies, of whom there were many, grew envious. In no time at all they were cutting in, insisting on having a turn with George.

Humorous, eco-savvy, peace-loving, good company. Scarecrows are all of these. What more could we wish for in a hopeful world?

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