11.02.2009

November 1, 2009

White Dog lives in a part of the country that celebrates Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on this day. It is not a scary day, like Halloween, but rather, one where families spend the day thinking joyfully about their dearly departed. Many families put together extravagant picnics and spend the afternoon visiting the graves of relatives, celebrating with them, sharing food and drink (and cigarettes even) with their ancestors. A special skull shaped sweet bread is served and skeleton sugar candies decorate every dessert table. Marigolds decorate everything. It is a day of reminiscing and parades and laughter. Gregg, Candace and Dragon came over this afternoon and we had our own Gringo version of the day with seafood stew and spicy olive garlic tapinade and bread. The apple cake Steve made was not skull shaped but the cinnamon topping did have a decidedly skull like look. We did not offer our ancestors Jack Daniels or cigars (although my grandfather would have sent a spirit thanks) but we remembered and we laughed and we ate. We told White Dog about her lineage so she would not forget those who came before and she ate chicken in their honor. Then she and Dragon took a memorial nap on the sunny part of the floor so those in the spirit realm could remember, through them, what the warm November sun on a full tummy feels like.

12 comments:

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

What a furry khool way to celebrate and khommemorate!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

Ariel said...

I think it's a great idea to remember those we've lost.They may be gone yet the memories live forever in our hearts.

Life With Dogs said...

We saw coverage of this on the news and thought of you. :)

Kodak the Eskie said...

I hope you had a great day of rememberance - and eating!! Sounds like you did.

Hugs, Kodak

Teddy Bear said...

What a great way to remember those who are no longer with us. Did you try some of the seafood stew?

Love,
Teddy Bear

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

What a great way to remember those who have left us. Thanks for telling us about it.

Woos, the OP Pack

Hansel said...

oh boy sounds like a very nice day. Please let your mom know that our mom has been very tired from the weekend but will be writing her soon? Did you get all your orders and things? we hope everything arrived safely

Angel Ginger Jasper said...

Thats a lovely thing to do.. On the 4th my grandma has been gone one year and mum is sad. That seems like a lovely way to remember. Hugs GJ x

TwoSpecialWires said...

What a great day. We especially like the way it came to an end. With White Dog playing a very important role. What a lovely way to remember and to remind.

Thank you for sharing this. Somehow we prefer this day's celebration to the excess of candy treats that the eve before ushers in. We'll try hard to remember it for next year.

Love
Jake and Fergs

TwoSpecialWires said...

What a great day. We especially like the way it came to an end. With White Dog playing a very important role. What a lovely way to remember and to remind.

Thank you for sharing this. Somehow we prefer this day's celebration to the excess of candy treats that the eve before ushers in. We'll try hard to remember it for next year.

Love
Jake and Fergs

Halloween Spooktacular! said...

Hey there, Mack from Mack and Sally won best dog- second place was thunder from Chronicles of Woo and best excuse was Phantom from Chronicles of Woo

Coffee Talk with Shar said...

How fun - our area of the country celebrates the Day of the Dead too, and mom got to learn a lot about Mexican heritage from her co-worker today.