My Last Photo October 2022

 Bushboy, posted his monthly Last on the Card prompt, where he asks us to

post the last photo from your camera’s SD card or the last photo from your phone taken in the month of October

No editing — who cares if it is out of focus, not framed as you would like, or the subject matter didn’t cooperate No explanations needed — just the photo will do.

I like this challenge because it took me awhile to realize I am actually  a S*&! photographer but I like to take pictures so this challenge is the best way for me to show off my lol ‘art’.

Sometimes I’m surprised to find what I’ve taken pictures of but for the most part all of my pictures on my phone end with the way they start- with pictures of my dog, Hamish Macbeth.

This is a picture of Hamish in his Halloween costume. He was a Pirate this year and I think he liked wearing it because he didn’t try to get out of it  when my back was turned. It turned out that once he figured out what it took to get him in and out of it ( he wore it to at least three events ) he was pretty calm when it came time to dress him.

Hamish Macbeth
Photo A.M. Moscoso
October 31, 2022

Like I said I’m a craptacular photographer, but darn that dog of mine is cute.

 

 

Once Upon A Time

Photographer Unknown

I know, Halloween is over ( sad sigh ) and you would think that means that someone who writes the kinds of stories I do would be cooling their  creative jets – but I don’t cool my jets at this time of the year.

I fire them up.

My family came from opposite sides of the world- according to my DNA results 50% of my DNA originates comes from the Philippines and the remaining 50 is split between Scotland and England.

Borders and Oceans aside,  my diverse family  actually had more in common then not when it came to a lot of things, which is probably why we ‘blended’ as well as we did because when my parents were married mixed marriages were not exactly  celebrated in the 1960’s.

But here is the one tradition above a few that they shared that I found to be absolutely fascinating.

During the winter at our family gatherings, usually after dinner we would start to tell Ghost stories.

If you are from a big family you might know how hard it is to get noticed- in my family if you could tell stories, no matter how old you were the stage was all yours. So I’m sure that played a big part in me wanting to become a writer and it’s probably why when I write my stories now they lack that tight structure writers striver for and it reads more like someone just sitting next to you and talking.

Bad grammar and all.

So I worked at landing that coveted storyteller role and in the end I got tell stories along with my Grandfathers or my Uncles  or my Grandmothers. It was so awesome. I felt like SUCH a big deal. Nothing I’ve done after that compares to that feeling of accomplishment I had when I got to tell a story with the adults and everyone listened.

As a sidenote, when I started to tell my one stories or I recited a spooky poem or a ghost story I learned I had to do it all from memory. I guess I never made that leap to becoming A WRITER. I write the way I talk. Still. After all these years.

I don’t mind.

Over the years people have sent me links to articles that addressed this once ( and I guess in some cases ) and lost tradition of telling ghost stories during Christmas or the winter season.

It’s a great tradition to be part of.

My family is smaller now, but we still tell ghost stories at Christmas gatherings, or when we get together for the evening and if it’s snowing or the power goes out we are in heaven.

Vida Gabor
” His Party Piece “

Why Do People Tell Ghost Stories on Christmas?

Christmas ghost stories are a tradition going back much farther than “A Christmas Carol”

A Plea to Resurrect the Christmas Tradition of Telling Ghost Stories

Though the practice is now more associated with Halloween, spooking out your family is well within the Christmas spirit

PEOPLE USED TO TELL GHOST STORIES AT CHRISTMASTIME

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY THE POPULAR CHRISTMAS SONG “IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR” HAS A LINE ABOUT TELLING “SCARY GHOST STORIES?”