Thanks Kara

So Kara did the most intimidating part for me- she set it up, gave me a pretty background and some good music. I'll try to do my part now to keep family and friends posted and perhaps get on my soapbox occasionally.
Halloween was fun but a bit drawn out for me. It started with a church party last weekend (in the rain) and last night we went to a school party for the little kids on campus. Jackson was a dragon and he liked to roar at his friends. As he said it "I want to scare all the little people". I've never been into Halloween all that much. I don't like to get dressed up and I eat too much candy- just because it is there.

I prefer Día de los Muertos or "day of the dead" as celebrated in Mexico and parts of Central America. It takes place on Nov 1 and 2. It is the time that people celebrate the lives of loved ones who have passed on. Families build alters or decorate the gravesites of loved ones with marigolds, candles, favorite foods, cut out paper (papel picado) and pictures. Everywhere are skulls and skeletons- but not scary ones- funny ones.

They mock death because it is inevitable and there is life after death so why worry? It is a combination of Aztec and Catholic belief systems about death. Here is quotation I like about the concept by Octavio Paz (Winner of Nobel Prize of Literature): “To the resident of New York, Paris or London, the word Death is never
pronounced because it burns the lips. Mexicans on the other hand,
frequent it, caress it, they sleep with it, they celebrate it; it is one of their
favorite games and their most permanent love.”
So... Feliz día de muertos!