My mother grew up during the Great Depression. The family was lucky to own their home outright. My mother and grandmother raised chickens and turkeys and grew a large garden of vegetables and a corn patch. My mother worked long hours in the garden and was often outdoors with her brother who was ten years younger than she was.

Clothing was ragtag in those days and Jack wore a pair of shorts that were too large on him and that was all he wore in the summer. The chickens and the turkeys laid eggs. These eggs were eaten or sold door to door in the neighborhood for money, which was in short supply. Occasionally a hen or a turkey would hide a nest and sit on the eggs until they hatched. One of the turkeys hatched from such a nest had no feathers at all.

They named him Grumpy Gus. Gus ran about the yard in the sun and got sunburned every sunny day. He would blister and peel. It made him grumpy. My mother would smear Gus with a homemade concoction of Unguentine and axle grease to improve his issue with sunburn, blisters, and peeling. This made him even more grumpy. He chased my mother’s little brother mercilessly around the garden to peck at his privates through the ample leg holes in his shorts. My mother told her little brother to sit down on this bottom whenever Gus went after him. Gus would wait and watch him as he sat. It turned into a gritty battle in the garden.

Gus could not be put into the shaded enclosure for the turkeys. They would kill him. Birds of a feather may flock together except when one has no feathers at all.

Summer merged into autumn and my mother had to go to school. My grandmother had a garden of vegetables and a good many berries to preserve. She also had to keep her youngest son safe from Gus in the garden. Thanksgiving came along and they had a fine feast on their table. They had turkey and mashed potatoes, squash, and lima beans. They had carrots, green beans, and pumpkin pie, and a bowl of raspberries and cream. Not many households had food on their table as they did.

After dinner, my mother went out into the back garden to look for Gus. He was gone. She asked her mother as they were doing the dishes: “Where’s Gus?” Her mother asked her if she had enjoyed her turkey dinner. “Your brother certainly did!”