End of October. Having had their fill of sunflower seeds — hanging upside down on the flopped over, giant heads as if they were hanging from a lampost — the tufted titmice (pl. titmouse?) have flown. It seems so silent without their cheee-cheee-cheee.

In Tarrytown, the streets are decked out for Halloween with witches hanging from lamposts and homemade scarecrows tied to parking meters, each one topped by a tilting pillowcase — faceless hoods worthy of Abu Ghraib. Did the town fathers think of that when they came up with the design? Or was the connection implied?