Collection of bones.

I am hoping this unveiling of my skull and bone collection will make some sense after my last post.

Wishing you tons of fun this weekend,

R

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

La Catrina by José Guadalupe Posada

The air is festive in my adopted land, and as much as I enjoy Halloween and it's cheesy-creepy atmosphere, it makes me very home sick (more than any other holiday, in fact).
Dia de los Muertos is approaching and I miss terribly it's aesthetic and meaning. It is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, and it is a cultural tradition that dates back to pre-hispanic times and that has been hybridized with Catholic holidays (All Souls day and All saints Day).

Día de los Muertos is less about Death than about celebrating Life. It is a day to be reminded that Life cannot be without Death, and that because of the fact that we will all die someday Life is precious and should not be wasted. Everyday matters and should be enjoyed. An acknowledgement of the ultimate dichotomy, a theme I have been focusing on for a while now and should probably write a post about sometime soon.

It is also a celebration of those we love that have died, a day to remember them and keep them close to our hearts. In Mexico it is a tradition to set up little altars with offerings to our beloved dead (Ofrendas) that include their photographs, candles, marygolds (xempazúchitl), paper banners and some of the  favorite things of the deceased (like jewelry, music, food and drinks).

Here are a couple of nice examples of Ofrendas: 

Image from here.

I particularly love this ofrenda, where the brushes used by the deceased are on display.
This image and many other nice examples found here.

Sometimes ofrendas are set up right on the graves of those who we miss. Graveyards on Dia de los Muertos become festive with people eating, playing music, sharing, remembering.

You can buy this image by visiting here.

Pan de Muerto (image from here)

Food is a crucial element of Día de los Muertos. Bakeries make a special bread decorated with "bones": tasty, moist, sugar covered goodness (oh, I could trade my kingdom for a slice of that right now); and at markets and plazas everywhere you find sugar skulls in all sizes adorned with colorful details. If you are lucky, the person selling them will have some colored sugar to write your name on the forehead of your skull. My sister and I loved getting our own and would put off eating them for the longest time, they were so pretty. Looking back, I believe those little sugar skulls were our first lesson on mortality. A sweet festive lesson.

Calavera de azúcar (buy your own here)

As you know we are new in our neighborhood and I am not sure wether there are any kids out here, but just in case they come knocking on our door on Halloween, I am off to buy some candy. 

And maybe this weekend I will venture out to San Francisco in chase of some Pan de Muerto.

Hope you are having fun!

PS. To see a Catrina slideshow visit here.

Bone collection, sneak peek.

I have been meaning to photograph a few of the skulls and bones in my collection to show you and have not got around to it just yet, so I figured you would like to get a glimpse in advance.

Expect more soon!

Hope you are having a nice weekend.

The little swallow is a paper cut I made for J on our anniversary. Or was it his birthday?

The (never ending) move.

J and I had this image of our move as just putting "it all" in our car and driving away towards our bright new future while singing happily with the radio turned to the loudest possible volume. It would look something like this (add favorite tunes as loud as they can go and happy purring cats in the back seat):

You can buy this pretty embroidery here.

Well, it turns out the move is actually harder than previously thought.

As of right now it has been almost a month, we are not done moving, and have driven back and forth between our places for what feels like a trillion times. One of those trips involved boxes with cat limbs coming out from every possible corner and me crying because we had uprooted them from a happy place. 

Our old home is little and we assumed we could empty it in a couple of trips, so we just got enough boxes to fit in J's parent's van thinking we could fill them up, drive them to our new place, unpack them and go back a couple of times with the same boxes. Easy! Practical! NOT.

How could so many things fit in a 365 square feet little cabin?

Last time I moved 6 years ago all I brought with me was a backpack with a couple of clothes changes. That was it. And maybe some shampoo and a hair band. Now J and I find ourselves the proud owners of tons of stuff. How did this happen? We have collected some useful artifacts for the kitchen (like the prettiest mugs we got for our wedding). We are both readers, and while we support our public library, somehow we have amassed a fair amount of books. Then there are plants, driftwood, rocks, bones, clothes and the infamous shoes...

I wish this moving option had been a possibility, or that I had found* Jennifer earlier! No, she is not a super efficient muscular mover, but a smart girl who has decided to let go of most of her worldly possessions and drive away without turning back. I know how to shed everything away feels like and it is liberating and refreshing, but for whatever reasons it is not where I am at now, so on and on I go carrying the load of my stuff.

I think this weekend we will finally make our last trip to move and then I will allow myself to sit still and have a cup of tea.

I have to tell you, that first cup of tea at our new place better taste good in those pretty mugs!

PS. The cats are happy and adjusting to our new home quite nicely.

* Jennifer found via Mighty Girl