Our office is covered in paper turkeys.

The Star is running its turkey coloring contest -- "Beautify the Bird" -- and piles of entries have come in.

They're coming from wee little children; they're coming from older folks; they're coming from people in between. I'm seeing turkeys scaled with sequins; tattooed turkeys, sports turkeys; punk rock turkeys; belly dancer turkeys; vegetarian turkeys begging for their lives; turkeys decorated with the bounties of fall (dead leaves). Most impressive is the way the turkeys are imagined: Every turkey, even the most standard, is a masterpiece.

Each turkey has the artist's name, age and address written at the bottom. The ages seem to start at two and end in the 70s and 80s. "65 -- still young at heart" reads one entry. Someone woke up that morning, and perhaps not even expecting it colored in a turkey. And had it sent in, or addressed an envelope to us. They are secret messages to inner wells of expression; the turkeys a tap into the gooey sap of creative being. In this time when so much is handed to us and so much is thrown away without consideration, here are these turkeys that someone colored in.

I'm not melodramatic or silly enough to think that everyone of these turkeys was colored in with care, that every contest participant poured their hearts and souls into their turkeys...but the effort, the care, and the final products -- all so are heartbreakingly wonderful they restore some of my love of humanity.

Or maybe they are just paper turkeys.

Either way, check out the contest results running in the Indianapolis Star, Thursday, Nov. 22 (Thanksgiving Day)!