Bob and Bren's Mexican Adventure

The weather here is changing. Yesterday and today the temperature was about 74 and 60 at night. It feels more like fall weather. I love it.

The Mexicans celebrate Halloween here also. A week ago Walmart was full of ghoulish Halloween stuff, but yesterday they were taking all of it down and replacing it with Christmas stuff even before Halloween happens! I passed through the toy department and saw this doll. The toy department is very small, with only two small isles.

This is "Frankie Stein"

"Day of the Dead" will be celebrated on the first 2 days of November. The handmade brick and concrete or wrought iron grave markers in local cemeteries are cleaned , repaired and decorated. Family members spend most of the afternoon and evening in the cemetery having a barbeque or picnic and enjoying a multigenerational family reunion of the living and the dead while sharing stories of their loved ones.

There is also a belief that the spirits of babies and small children are allowed to visit their families on the first day of November. The souls of adults return for 24 hours on the following day. Mexican families take these visits from their departed loved ones seriously and prepare for these reunions by arranging the departed one's favorite meals and making alters with their pictures and favorite things.

It seems odd to us, but is tradition to them.

Yesterday artists brought and staged about a dozen statues made locally to celebrate the upcoming Day of the Dead to the park by the lake in which we walk each day.

This cute Mexican girl made this statue.

I spoke to this woman and she said this statue was to honor her dead mother and she and the man in the picture made it.

Close up of the face. This face was more life like with eyes and the woman who made it said she wanted to show a more alive face to illustrate there is life after death.