El día de los muertos

That's Spanish for "The day of the dead". I learned about this holiday in Mexico, and took it home to California. Not that there aren't people here who celebrate it - there are millions of Mexicans here. Anyway, it's a very old (pre-hispanic) ritual, welcoming the dead back to this side at the very beginning of November, every year, and celebrating with the souls.

There are altars with pictures of the dead, and nice offerings of whatever they needed and liked while here on earth. Food and drink, of course, to share! Masses of marigold flowers! There is the Catrinas, and the sugar skulls and music. Candles and more candles.

I was looking for a nice video to post a link to, but they were all so good that I just sat there and got nothing done. Copy my subject line and look it up. You, too, can get stuck in the web.

What I did do: I did take a picture of my Catrina, and of my "ofrenda", my offering of rice, beans, fresh vegetables, and herbs and chiles.

There was also tequila on the table, in case some soul wanted it.  Just sayin'...

.