dia de los muertos

I have the fortunate (as I see it) or unfortunate (as others see it) privilege of having been born on The Day of the Dead. Someday I will make it to Mexico for this wonderful celebration. I love the irony of being born on this day and have found many ways of celebrating it in conjunction with my birthday, including attending the San Francisco parade in the Mission neighborhood, visiting the Oakland Museum Day of the Dead exhibit, collecting artwork related to the day, and setting up small altars in our home. It is a time of rejoicing when the dead are to be remembered, celebrated, and called on for communication. There are a variety of statues and figurines affiliated with the holiday in addition to flags, pastries, and candy.

My friend Natalie has been giving me very cool Day of the Dead-inspired birthday gift for years now, including a beautiful paper maché statue of a female skeleton for which Tom got me a male companion the following year, some excellent rubber stamps, and a tile from New Mexico. This year she got me chocolate skulls, which are possibly the most excellent form of chocolate I have ever seen, and the packaging is beautiful. Thank you, Natalie!

If you are ever in Santa Fe, it is a great place to find all kinds of artwork and crafts inspired by Day of the Dead. When I was there I picked up a copy of this book which is a monograph of the Mexican artist Manuel Manilla, whose skeletal engravings are incredibly vivid and full of expression and beautiful lines. Another very well known Mexican engraver whose work has become affiliated with Day of the Dead is José Guadalupe Posada:

I find it appropriate that Day of the Dead falls right around what I just learned is called "Stick Season" in Vermont--the time when all the leaves have fallen off the trees and only the branches remain, when the trees are getting ready for the hibernation of winter. A time of transition and change to a season that is rougher and more monochromatic--a time of year that seems to be unheralded, but I am really enjoying it being the novice that I am. There have been some gorgeous sunsets recently, replete with red red skies and black, leafless trees strikingly standing out in the foreground. The snow should be here soon.