There’s No Place Like Home

When you think of scarecrows, what images come to mind? Maybe a straw-stuffed effigy dangling from a pole in the middle of a Kansas cornfield. Or maybe a simple stick with a hat and sweater lending a hand in a tucked-away country garden. These are places where you would expect to find scarecrows.

I suppose the last place you would expect to find a scarecrow is in the Blogosphere, but we’re here nonetheless. Most of us are minimalists by nature and homesteaders at heart. The varmints we’re here to scare off are the excesses that rob us the of opportunities to appreciate our own abilities.

The Scarecrow Chronicles is Countryside’s newest blog. There are no varmints here, just sound commentary and robust dialogue between me and my fellow scarecrows. Please join us.

Jerri Cook

Countryside Staff

Six Traits of Highly Successful Cyber Scarecrows

1. Scarecrows are people watchers by nature. In the Blogosphere, the best scarecrows keep watch over several different blogs. The more you watch, the more you know.
2. Scarecrows know it’s the stuff on the inside that counts. Cyber scarecrows know that glitzy blogs aren’t always the most informative ones.
3. Scarecrows don’t play with fire. In the Blogosphere, vulgarity and name calling will get you burned. Scarecrows who behave badly are considered varmints by other scarecrows.
4. Scarecrows are vigilant. Cyber scarecrows are on the lookout for predators and online varmints, reporting them to the webmaster immediately.
5. Scarecrow’s don’t mind gawkers. In the Blogosphere, there are plenty of gawkers who will come by just to laugh and point. Laugh and point back.
6. Scarecrows know the Scarecrow’s Creed by heart:
   

   Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking. ~The Scarecrow, from The Wizard of Oz, (1939)
   

   Think of the Blogosphere as Oz; things aren’t always what they seem, and you are sure to meet some interesting characters.