While driving home from from Seto yesterday, I let the navigation program on my iPhone choose my route. Often it chooses obscure routs that I have never traveled before. If I am not in a hurry, I enjoy this as it gives me a chance to see new neighborhoods. For me, ANY place I have never been is interesting, whether it is beautiful or barren, bucolic or urban. I love the unknown, the chance of seeing something unexpected. So yesterday, while driving through a neighborhood in Seto, I was just enjoying the drive when I noticed a man next to a field on a side street. I only caught a glimpse of him, but he seemed to be standing very still, just looking at the ground. Something about his presence seemed odd, but before I could identify what it was, I was past him. Likely I would have forgotten about him, but then I saw a woman standing in tall grasses, holding a child, similarly immobile. I was momentarily startled, but then realized what these inanimate people were. They were scarecrows, very lifelike and dressed in human clothes. I had already driven past them, so I pulled over and walked back to the field. There, I discovered other members of the taciturn scarecrow community, like the tall guy in the jogging suit, and the old woman leaning against the fence, all locked forever in their various attitudes. Unfortunately, my wife and daughter were waiting for me in the car, wanting to get home, so I only had time to get in a few quick shots. I would love to go back and spend more time with the scarefolks (kakashi in Japanese), but I’m not sure I could ever find them again.