THE SETTING FOR SCARECROWS: If you had to describe the landscape and buildings and flora and trees surrounding a scarecrow, say, from a painting or a calendar or photograph, what would you land upon? You might guess that there'd be a big red barn in the background, and rows of cornstalks, and perhaps, in the distance, a copse of crimson-hued trees. (And you'd absolutely use the word "copse" in every day conversation, a pretty term that's been bested by "grove" and "forest" in recent years.) But copse or not, you would likely not picture buildings in the background or businesses like coffeehouses and restaurants and clothing shops and such. You wouldn't picture cars or parking meters or benches, because the traditional image of the scarecrow is the lone figure in the field. The field has met the city in recent years, thanks to the multi-week, business-cute Scarecrow Festivals popping up hither and yon. The Santa Ynez Valley stages one, in several towns (Solvang, Los Olivos, Buellton), and, up the coast, Cambria is in on the autumn-flavored action. The sweet burg's annual Scarecrow Festival strikes a hay-filled pose, whimsically, each October, and it holds the pose all month long. So from...
OCTOBER 1 THROUGH 31... visitors to the town will see witches and dragons and chefs and firemen and a host of different characters standing in not-too-serious sentry in front of various stores. The theme for 2015 is "A Magical Place" and you're bound to see that reflected in the many variations on the scarecrow. They won't all look like that classic scarecrow ideal, the one most famously brought to life in "The Wizard of Oz," but they will charm, delight, puzzle, and likely make you brandish your camera, over and over. They're free to see, as most scarecrows are, and over 400 of the cute creations are expected for October 2015. That means you have a full day or weekend ahead of you, people calling upon Cambria during the scarecrow-tacular. Need to see some snaps from past year? Flap your wings this way and alight here.
