Sarah Austin Jenness

That was James Domic Jr., James spends his time fishing, writing, playing music, and he says he's been in full-time dad mode recently. James still hunts moose once a year. A moose can weigh 1,000 pounds, and he says one moose feeds six families all winter long. With the meat, he makes burgers, slow-cooked roasts, lots of stews, bone broth, and gravy for his family. Here's James again.

That was James Domic Jr., James spends his time fishing, writing, playing music, and he says he's been in full-time dad mode recently. James still hunts moose once a year. A moose can weigh 1,000 pounds, and he says one moose feeds six families all winter long. With the meat, he makes burgers, slow-cooked roasts, lots of stews, bone broth, and gravy for his family. Here's James again.

That was James Domic Jr., James spends his time fishing, writing, playing music, and he says he's been in full-time dad mode recently. James still hunts moose once a year. A moose can weigh 1,000 pounds, and he says one moose feeds six families all winter long. With the meat, he makes burgers, slow-cooked roasts, lots of stews, bone broth, and gravy for his family. Here's James again.

That was James Domic, Jr. If you've had your own rite of passage, consider telling your story at The Moth. We want to hear from you. That's it for this episode of The Moth Radio Hour. We hope you'll join us next time.

That was James Domic, Jr. If you've had your own rite of passage, consider telling your story at The Moth. We want to hear from you. That's it for this episode of The Moth Radio Hour. We hope you'll join us next time.

That was James Domic, Jr. If you've had your own rite of passage, consider telling your story at The Moth. We want to hear from you. That's it for this episode of The Moth Radio Hour. We hope you'll join us next time.

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This is the Moth Radio Hour from PRX. I'm Sarah Austin-Ginesse. This is our annual December holiday episode. We have stories of feasts, traditions, celebrating, not celebrating, connecting with family and friends, and just wanting to be alone. Six stories that explore the mixed emotions that come with this last month in the year. Our first storyteller is moth veteran Peter Aguero.

Peter calls this story Me and Mama versus Christmas. Lots of people go overboard at Christmas. It's a time of excess. The decorations and the gifts and the food. But what if money is tight? Peter told this story at a moth night we produced in partnership with West Virginia Public Radio. Here's Peter Aguero.

That was Peter Aguero. Peter says at the moment he's most likely to be found making pottery and listening to the Allman Brothers. Peter makes his home in Queens with his wife, Sarah, and his mom is now happily married, too. As for Christmas traditions, Peter and his mom now do breakfast with as many meats as possible.

Last year, Peter says, mom made a seven-meat breakfast, and it was pretty awesome. Tracy Segarra is our next storyteller. She won an open mic Moth Story Slam in New York, where we partner with public radio station WNYC. And that win earned her a spot in a Grand Slam, which is where this story was told. The theme of the night was growing pains. Here's Tracy live at the Moth.

That was Tracy Seguera at a Moth Grand Slam. Tracy is a former wire service reporter turned marketer. In her free time, she hosts and produces her own Long Island-based storytelling show, Now You're Talkin'. Tracy said, Tracy and her daughters celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas. They light candles every night of Hanukkah, and every Christmas they exchange gifts and have a traditional dinner.

They also like to bake unique holiday treats. To see a photo of one of their creations, reindeer pretzel cupcakes, and a photo of Rita with her granddaughters, go to themoth.org. When we come back, we try to escape the holidays with a trip to Puerto Vallarta. Stay tuned.

This is the Moth Radio Hour. I'm Sarah Austin Janess, and I'm your host. Welcome back to our annual December holiday anti-holiday episode. I say anti-holiday because there are lots of people listening who don't celebrate the holidays in December in the traditional sense. They escape the typical trappings of this month, maybe in favor of rest and rejuvenation in a far-off land.

Our next story is all about that. Steve Glickman told it at a moth story slam in Chicago, where we partner with public radio station WBEZ. The theme of the night was refuge. Here's Steve live at the moth.

That was Steve Glickman. Steve has no pictures from his failed vacation, of course, but in the spirit of second chances, you can visit our website, themall.org, to see a picture of him on a successful vacation with his boyfriend. He's never misplaced his passport again. Our next storyteller is Dawn Frazier. Dawn is one of the instructors in our community program.

She travels around the world with The Moth, workshopping personal stories with all sorts of community groups. This story was recorded in Kampala, Uganda, in an intimate setting where women shared stories for the first time. There were only about 20 people in the room. Here's Dawn Frazier at The Moth in Uganda.

Dawn Frazier is an instructor in the Moths Community Program. She's also a communications coach and the host of the podcast Barbershop Stories. When I told Dawn that this story was included in our holiday hour, she said the timing couldn't be better. She had just traveled to Florida with her sister's wedding cake.

To see photos of Dawn's family Christmas in Trinidad and Tobago, including the turkey she brought that year, plus the roti, pig's feet, patties, and other Caribbean goodies she brought the next year, and for other stories from the Moth Community Program, go to themoth.org.

After our break, our last two stories, the Jewish tradition of asking for what you want twice, and the sheer stress of planning your first kiss on New Year's Eve, when The Moth Radio Hour continues.