Jabberwocky: October 2013

Such a great day at the Mission San Luis Rey Dias de Los Muertos Fiesta! The whole day was just an explosion of color and culture and worlds colliding. North County San Diego is a great fondue pot of folks from just about everywhere. Obviously the most pervasive culture is Latin. Latin in all senses of the word; Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Brazilians....the list could go on. But it's not only Latin. There are Hawaiians and Samoans and Asian people of every origin and place. Then there are the regional mixes brought in by military families from around the country. It's all a big swirl of humanity let me tell you! Well one of our blessings is the annual Dias de Los Muertos Festival held every year. It's a celebration that I hold close to my heart. The direct experience and acknowledgement of DEATH. The honoring of people we loved who are no longer with us. The playful interaction between the taboo (death) and the acceptable (life). I love the sugar skulls, the figures and renderings of the dead engaging in the same activities we do in life. Riding bikes, dancing, drinking, driving cool cars, playing music, dating, eating...everything. It gives your soul a first hand message that life and death are a continuum. That life is precious because it is so short and tenuous. That death is simply the next place we go...so HONOR IT! Celebrate it! Confront it! It's coming whether you want it or not...so it might as well be in the form of a sweet candy skull with your name across the forehead that you can take a giant, life affirming BITE out of...Vivan Los Muertos!