"Flores! Flores! Flores por los muertos!"

I'm sorry, I can never get that line from Streetcar Named Desire out of my head. Chilling.

OH we had so much fun at our little party and then the parada on E. 6th street was fantastic as usual. Matt was correct in stating that kids seemed a little more intent on actually eating the sugar skulls this year (for some strange reason it was completely a non-issue, last year) and we also filmed a very short and incoherent zombie movie and we actually did a tad more actual talking about the dead who we are actually supposedly honoring so that was cool. For the record the top photo shows a picture of me and Auggie Doggie... our dearly beloved dachschund who is hands down most beloved pet of mine of all time so it is very fun to be inspired to tell the boys Auggie stories, which they love, of course.
I also called my mom yesterday and asked her for a little inspiration about how to represent my grandma and grandpa on the altar. She reminded me about how my Grandma lived in Wichita Falls, TX during the depression, a hot dry land that she hated. She read the book, The Girl of the Limberlost, over and over, and when she moved to Oregon she was in paradise. That was very fun to remember and imagine. I remember that she loved that book... I read it at some point in my childhood, too. And I remember her talking about how blisteringly hot Texas was. She said in the summer they'd just start getting up earlier and earlier each morning... trying to catch a breath before the sun came up. I also remember her always saying that How Green Was My Valley was her favorite film. I've never seen it...

My Grandpa was actually super cool. I'm sad to say I had no idea how cool until recently. Now I realize I must have inherited my tinkering proclivity from this man... who built a homemade roller coaster in my Mom and Aunt's backyard when they were little, along with a playhouse and a miniature golf course. These are just my Mom's parents of course... I'll have to get to my Dad's parents next year. Can't overload the little ones, who only have so much patience for hearing tales about their ancestors before they start gnawing on sugar skulls and going into sugar shock. Though I did hear one fascinating little tidbit from my mom yesterday... My Grandpa Bill on my Dad's side was badly narcoleptic, which is really interesting because my Dad is like that too... in the evening or at movies, and once in high school I even heard him snoring out in the audience of Bye Bye Birdie, in which I had a starring role... but my Mom said, "No, he was way worse than your Dad... when we went over there for dinner he would always fall asleep at the table after supper.... just sitting there and smoking his cigar... and everyone was so used to it they wouldn't even say anything... and he had all these holes in his shirt where he'd dropped his cigar whilst nodding off." So keep an eye on me folks... am I really listening to you with rapt attention, or have I just inherited my grandfather's condition but one-upped him by learning to snooze with my eyes wide open...

Anyway, all that bla bla bla just to say, I really love this holiday, and I love honoring all these dear good people who have passed on to the other side, sharing stories and believing that they're watching over us... all these grinning, dancing, jolly skeletons... really makes you feel safe and cozy. It really does!