The Inevitable......... Arrives while I am not home or
Honi soit qui mal y pense

We were counting the hours until the woman down the street voiced her dismay with the scarecrow. I missed her call. Why would I need to be at work and miss the delicious squeal of her indignation? Now pater wants us to scoot those trousers up a little just to get her off of our case.

For anyone else, I would make immediate remediation. Especially if we had received a polite request. But this woman is never polite. She goes from zero to ballistic in one second. Last summer she stood in the street and screamed at us about the Winnebago parked across the street. It wasn’t ours, but she figured we were the ‘type.’

So, what did I do? I sought legal advice. Actually, I called my sister who thought it was just hysterical and didn’t think our scarecrow violated any community obscenity standards. This is just a pumpkin - exactly the way it grew - and a pair of trousers. And in her estimation, just an extension of the genre of lawn art that is made up of those plywood figures that look like stout ladies bending over in the garden. (It is just a pumpkin- no added gourds, zucchini etc.)

In most circumstances, I am the family guardian against the vulgar. And I wouldn’t do anything to foist vulgarity on my fellow citizens. But the uppity ‘artiste’ in me doesn’t like a woman from down the street telling me what kind of art I can install on my front porch. I am enjoying this too much - and am thankful that it will all be gone by Thursday. I’m dealing with a lot of problems of pride........humility is a real struggle for me and this is just the type of situation that is a pitfall for me. (There is the temptation to rationalize this as an opportunity to teach the children about not capitulating to peer pressure. It’s a stretch, but I could do it.........)
And it’s only a pumpkin.....