Happy Halloween

And happy birthday, David, from all of us at the Ola Lola's Halloween party. We all sang "Happy Birthday" to David who was with us in spirit(s)! (This picture doesn't show everybody, just everyone who was there when we took it. More pictures coming on Flickr.)

We had a great time and as you can see, a whole bunch of great costumes including our top adult winners of Susan as "Tinkerbell" and Trevor as "Johnny Cash." There were kids with great costumes, too, and a haunted Ola Lola garden with a graveyard and monsters galore. Thanks to everyone who joined us and special thanks to everyone who brought food. It was WONDERFUL!

Hope everybody out there had a safe and fun Halloween and David had a wonderful birthday. David, we missed you and toasted you, several times throughout the evening.

Today is El Dia de los Muertos - the Day of the Dead. In many Latin American cultures - especially in Mexico - today and tomorrow are special days that bring the spirits of the dead close to the world of the living, sometimes even crossing over. It's very similar to the Celtic traditions at the same time of year that eventually became All Saints (or All Hallows) Day (today, November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) in the Catholic church. Our Halloween is actually All Hallows Eve (or Even) - the evening before All Hallows Day.

Anyway, in the Dia de los Muertos tradtions, the spirits of the dead, are not to be feared but rather to be celebrated and honored. So even though this not an especially big holiday in Puerto Rico and we didn't build a Dia de los Muertos alter, today we're celebrating the family who have gone before us, especially Elaine's mother, both my mother and father, and right now special thoughts for my great aunt Nora. She was like an older sister to my mother. She passed away two weeks ago at nearly 92.