Day: October 2, 2023

Written In Ink

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Word Of the Day Challenge: NEWSPAPER

Photo A.M. Moscoso

The last time I remember seeing a newspaper in one of those plastic stands that use to dot street corners and stand in front of grocery stores was in 1999.

I remember it because that was when we had the WTO protests in Seattle and after the pepper spray and dust had settled, the free newespaper were flying out of those little plastic stands like crazy-the free papers were carrying a lot of stories about WTO and not many of the articles about the the Seattle Police Department or the local government’s response was what one could call favorable.

So, I was waiting for my bus when a Cop on horseback rode buy and his horse relived himself near the curb.

The cop got off and cleaned up after his horse. I thought that was pretty cool because dog walkers didn’t always do that and horses leave a bigger mess.

What wasn’t cool was that he went to one of the plastic paper stands, which as I mentioned housed a paper that was critical of SPD and he was about to shove his horse’ pile of poop into it when he saw me and a few people at the bus stop across the street.

Now keep in mind this was before youtube and social media and tik tok. He could have shoved that wad off horse poo in there and if we had said anything about it, he could have easily said he and his horse had been framed.

Instead,  let the lid on the stand close and then he went to a garbage can and put the horse mess where it belonged. I’m not sure why he didn’t carry through on his plan to turn a paper stand he didn’t think much of into a toilet- but to this day I remain curious.

 

There were probably newspaper stands all around me after that, but I don’t remember them. This one, I will always remember.

Photo A.M. Moscoso

Nan

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I’ve really enjoyed taking part in Pensitivity101  ” Share Your World ” prompts because they’ve served as happy memory joggers- here are my responses to October 2nd’s Share Your World

Photographer Unknown

1.  When you were a child, did you have your friends round for tea even if it wasn’t your birthday? Were you invited to stay to tea at a friend’s house?

I used to take tea  alone with my Nan  on Thursdays  starting when I was five years old.

I got to wear a nice dress and  my parents sent me along with some petit fours or little sandwiches to take with our tea. I think they were cucumber sandwhiches. My dad made them for us and the Petit Fours came from our trips to Victoria ( at that time there were french bakeries on every street  and boy were those pastries DELICIOUS )

My Nan had this rule. I had to carry on a conversation like ‘a young lady’ and I had to have the manners of a ‘ young lady’ too.

That might sound like a tall order for someone who had just started kindergarten, but I got to choose the topic- which usually involved my love of dogs, ghosts, and if there was really a body buried in her basement.

The manners part was actually easy because my Nan and Great Aunt were patient teachers so I had those down pat.

The plus to the conversation part was that  Nan  didn’t care how far afield my topics went as long as I sat up straight, spoke clearly and seriously and didn’t chew with my mouth open like ‘an untrained beast’.

When I think about it, those teas were great schooling for a kid who was determined to be a writer before she could read- and to take myself seriously.

2.  What was your first job in adult life?

I managed a warehouse where most of the staff were my parent’s age and I was the only woman on staff. That set me on a path where I went into what were then considered ‘non-traditional’ fields and I became a musician too.

3.  Do you enjoy shopping (food, clothes, gifts etc)

Not anymore.  I hate “stuff”. I give out gift cards because I am one of those people that buys presents that suck.

4.  What was the best bargain you ever got?

I bought a used purse from the Goodwill for  two dollars and I found a ten dollar bill stuck in the lining. The next Summer I sold it my Mom’s yard sale for three dollars.

That’s the best deal I ever got.

See You Soon

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AI artwork-Creator Unknown

 

Tomorrow  I will hunt for the perfect Halloween Pumpkin

in a field not far from where Iive.

I will haunt the rows, stalk the vines

in my yearly quest to find a Jack-O-Lantern

that resembles a human head.

 

And when it sees me, the pumpkin will howl

” Great, it’s that psycho with the knife again! ”

 

I will take it home and carve it, I will scoop out its stringy brains

and after Halloween  I will take it’s seeds to the field not far from where I live

and I will scatter them into the wind.

 

” See you next year Jack  I will say

with a little tear in my eye

and my pumpkin’s seeds will hiss, ” beat it you crazy chick,  it’s a long way back  to

Halloween  again. ”

 

Why Are We Not Surprised?

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RDP Monday: SEASON

I have made no bones ( see what I did there?) that I love Halloween.

Halloween influences what I like to read  and write, and the movies I  choose to watch. It inspires the way I dress and the way I decorate my house- even the collars I chose for my dog.

Mary Pickford Movie Promo

Before you assume I dress like Morticia Addams and that I live in a house that used to be Funeral Home or a house with a dark history. I actually don’t. I mean I have touches of those things in my home but there’s one reason I don’t go full on Halloween.

When I was in high school I took a class called Family Living.

My teacher was named Mrs Olmer and in her class you learned actual life skills- like we learned how to balance a check book. how to research and shop for home appliances, how to manage a construction job in your home and she taught a unit on home decorating.

She stressed that you put your favorite color on the top of your list and THAT is the color you use the least.

To emphasize your favorite color she suggested you use it as an accent color- use it for curtains, pillows and wall art – things like that.

So that’s what I’ve done.

It works- the things that reflect me- little things like my curious ( all those odd and macabre things ) that are really small- you could fit most of those things in your hand, no matter how understated they are people will always eventually notice  them first and in surprise.

Like my gargoyles- they are all over my home and have a place of honor over my fireplace. But it’s the ones scattered around my home that get noticed first.

Photo A.M. Moscoso

So this is the spooky season and I do love to participate in it year round  in a way that appears to be low key,  but to quote Charles Dickens in my most FAVORITE ghost story in the world:

“I will honour Christmas  HALLOWEEN in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”

― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol