Days of the Dead

Today, Mr. M and I walked to a farmers’ market held in the garden area of a large nearby hotel. We don’t usually attend this particular market because it mainly specializes in Baja grown wines from the Guadalupe valley. The wines are well known and apparently wonderful, but Mr. M and I don’t drink wine so it is lost on us.

The reason we went today is because they were sponsoring a free Dias de Los Muertos, or Days of the Dead, celebration, including dancers, costumed participants, and an Altar contest. In Mexico, Halloween is not recognized like it is in the US, although some of the more savvy kids here are catching on to the idea. But November first and second are big celebrations here.

Colorfully costumed Calaveras, or skeleton, dancers.

November first is the day families remember Los Angelitos , deceased children of the family, and November second celebrates deceased adult relatives. It is not a morbid idea here. The traditional Mexican belief is that there are three deaths: the first when the body physically dies, the second when the body is put into the earth, and the third is when there is no one to remember the deceased. That is why it is so important to celebrate the lives of family members who have passed on.

The days at the end of October are spent cleaning and decorating the graves of the dead. Altars may be set up in the family home. The altar usually has 4 to 7 layers and is colorfully decorated with playful skeletons called Calaveras, which often represent the favorite activities of the deceased. Objects placed on the altar can include decorated sugar skulls, pan de muertro, a sweet bread, everyday objects with special meaning, candles, incense, photographs, and especially, a special marigold called cempasuchil. Anything that might please the deceased can be added.

The celebration we attended today was a lot of fun! Here are some of the Altar contest entries:

This altar has a display carefully created with natural items like coconut and flower petals.

This altar has a costumed attendant lighting the candles.

This altar is a good example of seven tiers and it has living Calaveras, or skeletal representatives of the dead.

Here is a closer photo of them:

These girls were having a good time  pretending to be dead!

A Bed Of Roses

As I have posted in the past, Mr. M and I feel as though we are simply tenants of a property possessed by a family of hummingbirds. They are truly fearless! Recently, we noticed a lot of hummingbird activity in the area where we have our standard roses planted. The trees line a sidewalk that leads to our front door. The walk runs parallel to the deck in front of our house.

Here’s a photo of where we park our car with the roses next to it:

Here is the proximity of our rose "trees" to our usual parking spot

Recently when we walked down the sidewalk to go retrieve our mail, a hummer flew out of this rose tree:

Notice how close the rose grows to our parking spot. We back it out for passengers to get in.

This prompted a closer look and here is what we discovered right in the center of the rose tree:

A surprise right in the center!

Now it has been a couple of weeks and here is a shot of the two healthy babies. No wonder they think they own to place! Generation after generation are hatched and remain to live here.

No room for Mama!

They won’t be in the nest much longer but have been fun to watch from close up! The hummers are so brave we can even cut roses from the bush without causing any problems.

Where Has She Been?

Okay, I admit it: I have been missing in inaction! In December, Mr. M and I went to visit our daughters in Texas and Louisiana. Their internet connections were not as reliable as is ours here in Mexico (surprise!). So, between that and my desire to have a great time visiting with the family during the Holidays, there was little incentive to post.

Okay, what about since then? On January fifth, a couple of days after our return home, I underwent the replacement of my left knee. Did you know that the knee is the largest joint in the human body? Not to mention that it involves four bones, including the kneecap?  Rehabilitation from this surgery is painful and time consuming. Especially when the rehabilitation involves crossing an international border every time one visits the Physical Therapist.  Add to that the fact that I am allergic to a LOT of prescriptions medications, like antibiotics and pain killers and recovery is a bit slow.

It has taken me quite a while to get to the point where I can sit at the desk and type. I know. I know: laptop. I am thinking about replacing my old one that died a couple of years ago but I can’t seem to afford one as yet. It is on the list of Things I Would Buy If I Won The Lottery.

I am finally able to stroll around the garden without a walker (which I came home with) or a cane (kind of classy but annoying). So camera in hand, I went out to photograph what is going on in the garden at this time of year. Let me tell you first though, how great it is to FINALLY be able to walk without the constant pain with every step that I had in my knees. I am the Bionic Grandma now, two knee replacements (one was three years ago) and metal plates in one arm. It is very interesting to go through the airport!

As promised here are several photos from the garden:

My super dwarf apple tree in bloom

This little apple tree is always in bloom or producing fruit. It requires less than 100 hours of chill time and sets fruit about three times a year. And, oh yes, it is only about three feet tall! I just love it!

Some of my beautiful cabbages:



A green Cabbage

A red cabbage

This is a cauliflower that is aptly named “Cheddar”. It is still orangish-yellow after cooking and is delicious!!

 

Peek a boo!

Banana trees blossom according to their own time schedules. The red bananas on the left are a complete surprise! I bought the tiny tree for its interesting red and green variegated foliage. When we were thinning the clump we were astounded to find the bloom stalk. The flower stalk to the right is a favorite with our resident humming birds.

 

 

These red bananas were a surprise

This banana blossom is a complete surprise

A Natural Humming Bird feeder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the time when our citrus trees are in transition. The fruit is ripe and the trees are putting on new growth and blossoms. If you have never been near a citrus tree in bloom you have really missed out on one of the pleasures of life. Each type of tree has its own unique sweet fragrance.  Commercial “orange blossom” fragrance isn’t even within the realm. Not only is the fragrance sweet but it has an underlying  slightly bitter, citrus zing. The sweetest of my citrus blossoms belongs to my Mexican, or if you live in Florida, Key, lime. It is the favorite of the Humming Birds and they are extremely defensive of it!

The beginning of next year's Meyer lemons

A unique variegated lemon that is pink inside when ripe

This years oranges getting ripe

Random photos of the winter vegetables:

Lettuce have a salad

Peas and Broccoli, please

First time I've grown Brussels sprouts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least some random photos of the flower at this time of the year:

These little daisies are naturalized and come back year after year!

One of many irises

The poinsettia still has lovely flowers. I prefer the Spanish name Noche Buena, or Good Night (a reference to Christmas Eve)

No Sleep Tonight!

Tonight promises to be a noisy night here! Tomorrow, September 16, is the celebration of Mexico’s Bicentennial. Although Cinco de Mayo, the Fifth of May is often considered to be Mexico’s Independence Day, it is not. It is actually the day of a relatively minor skirmish that has been elevated in status by foreigners. Mexico’s Independence Day (from Spain) is Dieciséis de Septiembre, the sixteenth of September.

Two hundred years ago Mexico became it’s own country. This is the Bicentennial year. Tonight at midnight The Grito:  Viva Mexico, will be heard all over the country. It will be generally accompanied by various forms of celebration: fireworks, automobile horns, dancing, shouting and general partying.

Many of the Mexican television networks are showing the amazing Gran Fiesta that is occurring on the Zocalo of Mexico City, Mexico City’s Central Square. It has beautiful cultural dancers, music, a parade, floats, and a huge 20 meter tall figure representing all the deceased Mexican Independence fighters. It was elevated into a standing position by helicopter. Following that amazing thing is a Dance of Fire, along the lines of the fountain at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, only with flames in place of the water. That’s not to mention the fantastic fireworks following the President’s call for El Grito. Does this country know how to party or what?!

Mexico’s Bicentennial is a wonderful celebration of the Independence of a Country that has a rich history and a warm and beautiful culture. Congratulations Mexico: Viva Mexico!

What’s this?

I finally have tackled the job of harvesting my fennel seeds. That is until I discovered the swallowtail caterpillar on one of the canes. I left the rest for it to munch on. While we were cutting the seedheads we found this:

What happens when onions and fennel get friendly

This is what happens when you are a lackadaisical gardener and your onions and fennel go to seed at the same time. It seems that the fennel sent the seeds right up through the center of the onion seeds. Fun to look at right?

Baja Bikes

Rosarito to Ensenada Bike Riders

Are these the bravest people in the world? Or are they just some of the smartest? These photos are from today’s Rosarito to Ensenada Bike Ride. This ride is held twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. It is a lot of fun for the participants and a financial aid to the local businesses.

A sidewalk business just for this day

Although an occasional fall may injure a rider, for the most part these riders are safe riding the open road between our two cities. They are not moving targets for those mysterious people that the media in the US indicates are just waiting on this side of the border to kill and decapitate visitors.

I talked to several participants and they all said they are glad to visit Baja and feel safe here. One participant came from central California and said that he has been here over twenty times. I have lived here in Rosarito for six years and I have never had any negative experiences.

Little Red and Friend

Chicken and his ride. The sticker translates to Drunk on Board... (the trailer contains a cooler)

This fun bicycling event only underscores how welcoming and safe Rosarito is for American visitors. Don’t buy into that negative hegemony about how dangerous Mexico is. Yes, there are areas that are risky at best, but I would be willing to bet that even where you live there are areas that you hesitate to enter after dark (or even in daylight for that matter).

Baja Sunset

Since I am on a “photo roll”, I thought I would upload one more photo to temp you to visit Baja. This was taken on my front deck, hope you like it: