The Time I Made a Turkey From a Potato
An autumn vista of trees, just beginning to turn colour.
In Canada, Thanksgiving arrives in October. The second Monday of the month to be exact. It is the day we celebrate the harvest and the changing colours and give thanks for all that we have. The traditional celebratory meal for this holiday is turkey with all of the fixings: potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce and gravy. When I was a very young girl, I made my first turkey for Thanksgiving…using a potato.
What I loved the best
I always loved school and was an eager learner but truth be told my favourite subject was never an academic one. It was art class that I loved the best.
As a child of seven, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, our teacher told the class to each bring a potato to school for our art lesson on Friday. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving and we were going to make a turkey out of a potato. Well, I was so excited about this prospect, I can even to this day conjure up the feeling of anticipation that I experienced that day. So it was with great expectation that I waited for Friday afternoon and the turkey making to begin.
A very good day
As luck would have it I came down with a bad cold later that week and had to stay home from school. I remember being very disappointed at the thought of missing the turkey making and was determined to go back to school on Friday so I wouldn’t miss art class. I couldn’t imagine how we were going to make a turkey from a potato but I was excited to find out!
It’s funny, I don’t remember much about the turkey making or anything at all about bringing a potato turkey home. It is as if the idea of making a turkey from a potato was bigger than the actual doing in my imagination. But what I am sure of is that my fabricated feathered friend was proudly displayed on the dining table for all to see.
What I do remember about making the turkey is this: The potato was the body of the bird. Construction paper, crayons and toothpicks were involved. My young artist's heart was filled with joy and thanksgiving. And all in all it was a very good day!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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