The small, blazing orange hat hugged the head of the little boy walking just ahead of me. He was about half the height of the man beside him -- not yet a yardstick tall.

The boy held to his chest a large rectangle of construction paper. I saw a flash of colorful handprints and thought: nursery school project.

As we all turned the corner and headed toward the grocery store, I said to the boy, "Did you make that?"

He looked up and showed me his creation: a happy-looking turkey with handprint tail feathers and long legs dangling off the page.

"He's taking his turkey for a walk," the dad said with a smile.

Happy Thanksgiving!