Until I was 12 I always thought I was clever and smart (passed my 11 plus,I did) , after age 12 I always felt stupid (dropped out of school early) , now at age 58 it's reassuring to know i'm smart but stupid
What's your stupity rating?

I phoned the Police Witness Care unit up this afternoon to see when the trial date was of that obnoxious foul mouthed female Junkie who I spotted walking out with a trolley full of unpaid goods last April.
They informed me that last week when she appeared in court she changed her plea to Guilty which was predictable seeing as she was filmed by the security cameras walking out.
So thank goodness for that at least now I can plan my winter sojourn without worrying about being called as a witness.

First new years resolution for 2007...NOT to worry about things that may never happen.

So I said to Lulu.
"Oh dear lass, I think my age is beginning to tell on me finally, don't you agree"?
"A little bit" she hesitantly replied as she glanced at me furtively.
"Well, I haven't done too badly holding back the years 'til now, so i'd better not complain" I said ,referring to a significant slight physical decline"
Lulu put on her considerate head and replied "You want to start doing crossword puzzles and word searches, there has been lots of trials done that have proved conclusively that these pastimes can prevent the onset of senile dementia"

I've nothing against word searches and it's pretty obvious that crossword puzzles keep the brain active (mam loved doing both 'til the very end) but was Lulu really referring to my mental state when she said "a little bit"

As we beavered away this afternoon we looked out of the upstairs window at the outbuilding below and jokingly planned how easy it would be to convert it into a granny flat for when I was old(er) and infirm. It's not a bad idea really, she is a senior mental health nurse after all, and would take good care of me in my dotage

I'm only spending the afternoon at the 'building site' today 'cos very shortly I will be heading down to the supermarket in order to take advantage of staff 'double discount' day. I have instructions to buy all the families xmas spirits, i.e. bottles of Baileys, Jack Daniels, half a dozen bottles of vino and what ever else I can get up to the total of £100.
Why £100?...Because the 'powers that be' have decreed that on double discount day staff can only purchase alcohol up to the value of £100, ever since a few years ago, one colleague spent £900 buying all the booze for his relatives and neighbours' new year parties.
The usual story..it only takes one to spoil it for all the others, not that it will bother me though as £100 is enough for me to buy my daughter's presents seeing as I don't drink and t'old man only takes a drink in the pub..hardly ever in the house.

Those mean bosses in head office have no excuse except greed for the other concessions they have taken away though as we cannot now get double discount on electrical goods or music and video items..a big blow to many employees with children.
We can still get double discount on clothes though so I had better get a move on before all the swanky frocks have gone..then i'll have to find a party to go to lol!

ps.. I know there are not many swanky frocks on the supermarket racks, but you never know

Home and tired.

My worst nightmare (or am I just cosseted),
the bathroom's been ripped out, kitchen's ripped out, no heating, one cold water tap and only a kettle for sustenance.
The plasterer is going great guns and has done three rooms already. Myself and daughter no 1 have been putting some gluey mixture on the new plaster and later some paint undercoat, trying to get the bathroom ready for the plumber to reroute new pipes and install new bathroom suite later this week.
The state of the place reminded me of when we moved into this house 23 years ago,
the main difference being, I didn't do any of the work then.

My subsequent soak in the bath was inevitably a much more pleasurable experience than usual and I expect I will enjoy a much deeper slumber in my freshly laundered sheets...Bliss

I laughed and...I shouldn't have
...but i'm hardly surprised.
These mobility scooter users are a menace at times, taking over from bicycles for commandeering the pavements.
I have a 'Scooter club book' at work in the foyer and have hundreds of members. We have four scooters available for disabled customers to borrow and they are nearly always in full use. The criteria for joining the club is very lax. Indeed all you have to do is give your name,address and phone no, sign to say you know how to use it and the freedom of the supermarket highway is yours.
They are an invaluable boon to most of my elderly customers who suffer from arthritic or breathing complaints but I do sometimes worry when some new members sign up.
I have had one armed members, customers who have suffered a stroke and are partially paralysed and deaf and partially sighted customers. The relatives are eager for their charge to clamber into a scooter and look offended if I suggest perhaps a manual wheelchair would be better and safer.
There are no tests to be taken and when the store is busy it can be manic with no one way traffic or right of way. I had to pull a small boy from under the wheels of one once.. I hasten to add that it was the parent of the child's fault though, as the child was allowed to run and jump about all over the foyer. Even so if the disabled customer had had better responses he would have been able to brake sooner .
After saying all that, when i'm "older" and infirm I won't hesitate to purchase one and sign up at the supermarket...as a matter of fact at quiet moments in the store, you might just catch me revving up and going for a quick spin down the length of the foyer... purely for maintenance checks of course

I caught the tail end of a feature on the regional news programme the other day , it was about a young lady from York, Linzi her name is (I think, not sure), Anyway this young woman has been awarded the accolade of international face painter of the year 2006 and her work is striking and very appealing.

linzispics

I love bright colours so during my period of utter boredom yesterday I idled my time away browsing face and body painting sites (instead of studying my spanish grammar books or practising my group dance for the forthcoming xmas dance party).
In contrast to the wonderful artistry of the face painting I came upon this, a cover for a 2007 spanish calendar...I bet the artist had loads of fun achieving this desired effect
What do you think?

Body painting Calendar 2007

1. My ex is still....
the loser he was when I left him 33 years ago.

2. I'm listening to....
Fleetwood Mac..Albatross, Need your love so bad, Oh well.

3. Maybe I should...
utilise my time more productively

4. I love...
Guess who and guess who!

5. My best friends...
MY two sisters

6.I dont understand...
where we go to when we die

8. I miss...
my mother

9. The meaning of my screen name is...
inspired by Isadora Duncan, a dancer (1878 - 1927)

10. Love is...
all consuming

11. Somewhere, someone is...
A lot worse off than me

12. I will never...
learn to drive a car

13. Forever seems like...
Forever

14. I never ever want to lose...
My sanity..not being insane is scary enough

15. My cell phone...
is a daughter's reject.

16. When I wake up in the morning...
I look forward to my cuppa coffee in bed.

17. I get annoyed at...
supervisors at work who fail to send someone to the foyer to relieve me when it's time for my tea break.
They always have theirs on time !!

18. Parties are...
only Ok if they are organised by my dance teacher and include live music and lots of belly dancing.

19. My pets are...
squirrels in the garden and birds in the trees.

20. Kisses are...
lovely.. especially when given by nice clean children.

21. Today I...
went to Ikea with eldest daughter

22. I really want...
things to keep going the way they are (fingers crossed)

The disadvantage of only working Friday and Saturdays down at the supermarket foyer is that I am always behind with the going-ons of the place. i.e product change, hearing about people's promotions, social gatherings, price offers etc.
There's also the gossip...that Claire who works in the music and video department usually tries to fill me in on.
This week there was lots of bad news, stories of human failing and tragedy.

Firstly...there were two resignations. One a fellow Greeter; a thirty something, single, extremely amiable female who although she has many personal problems and is quite a bit overweight is a very nice person indeed. There is a reason I mentioned her weight, that is that probably, because of her diet her hair is always quite lank and greasy, if she ties it back then she looks Ok but she doesn't always do this.
Also because of her size there are only certain styles of clothes which she is comfortable in and the supermarket uniform tends not to be the most flattering one. This has resulted in the dreaded manageress taking a dislike to her and recently suggested she should not be employed as a Greeter any more (the face of the store etc.LOL) but that she should stay on checkouts. The poor girl was deeply offended by this and has been on the sick for depression for nigh on three months resulting in her handing her notice in this week.
The other is a young 18 year old porter (trolly lad). He too has a friendly personality but also difficult family circumstances (his mother has recently been in hospital with psychiatric problems). Well, this same manageress has been finding fault with his work too (although he is inside the store skiving more than he is outside collecting trolleys), so she kept hauling him into the office for a disciplinary. He too has been on sick with depression and as a consequense has lodged a complaint against the said manageress for harrassment, resulting in her now being under investigation! (she will get her cumuppance one day!)
There has also been three colleague sackings this week!! Both for fighting with other colleagues.
The first was a Bob, a chap in his mid forties who has worked on the freezer department for years. well, he had a fracass with Geoff from home-shopping and ended up punching him as they clashed in the warehouse. I don't know the reason why Bob punched him, but Geoff is married to Betty from 'Security' so only Bob got sacked.
The other incident happened outside of the workplace and involved three girls in their early twenties, two of them had heard that the third had been slagging them off to other workfriends, so the terrible two plotted that on pay day, when all the young colleagues have a friday night boozy get together up town, they would confront her. The thing is they did more than confront her they gave her a good hiding and the police were called.(keep away from alcohol if you can't stay in control, I say!). The two plotters were sacked after an enquiry and the victim survives to serve at her till for another day.

Then there was the customer crisis....only a few hours before I started work yesterday mid-afternoon one of our elderly porters saw a car with a middle aged woman inside which was parked up in the busy carpark; she was slumped over the steering wheel, he tapped on the window but had no response and on seeing a little blood on her head he opened the door and noted empty vodka bottles littering the car floor. An ambulance and the police were called and later it was reported that she had taken a paracetemol overdose as well as the spirits.
How she drove to the car park in the first place, no-one knows but did she really want to kill herself?? I think not as she wouldn't have gone to a place where she would be found, would she?.. a cry for help I fear.
We've had the usual rabble shop lifting ( the woman in the case that I blogged about a while ago is having her trial date set on Monday so I will find out if I am needed as a witness in court or not
There is more but this post is getting far too long.

It's not all doom and gloom though..I can report that the response to the Children in Need appeal was very good with lots of colleagues working in their pyjamas or dressed as schoolgirls etc. and Pudsey bear collected lots of cash as he wandered around the store.
A personal goodfeel factor is that Mandy from The opticians is going to Thailand for three weeks over the Xmas period to celebrate thirty years of marriage (I hate her !!lol)

SO, to conclude....the advantage of only working two shifts a week is that I don't have to blooming well go back there again 'til next Friday

Old age, I have decided, is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body - but I don't agonize over it for long. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that
piece of cake, or for not making my bed. I am entitled to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read until 4 am, and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60's and 70's, and if I at the same time wish to weep over a lost love, I will.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten and I eventually remember the important things. Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. I can say "no", and mean it. I can say "yes", and mean it. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
In one sense I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. For the first time in my life, I don't have to have a reason to do the things I want to do. If i want to sit in my pyjamas for half the day, if I choose not to work any extra hours at work, well, I have earned that right. I have put in my time doing everything for others, so now I can be a bit selfish without feeling guilty.

I sometimes feel sorry for the young. They face a far different world than I knew growing up, where we feared the law, respected the old, the flag, our country. I never felt the need to use filthy language in order to express myself. And they too will grow old someday. I am grateful to have been born when I was, into a kinder but poorer, gentler yet harsher world.
Yes, being old has its advantages
............

Adapted from an unknown article a lot of which expresses how I feel about getting older.
Shame about the aches and pains that come with old age too, or the facial hair that suddenly appears on a female, or the regular lapses of memory and stuttering which come for no apparent reason etc. etc,

I've been to the theatre in Leeds this afternoon, to the Playhouse to be precise to see 'THATCHER The Musical' an all singing, all dancing satirical look at the life Of Margaret Thatcher. I went with a friend who when she was in her early fifties did an open university degree and obtained a Bsc in Biology then in her early 60's she is regularly running half marathons and in between she spent 10 years working in the supermarket filling up shelves with sliced bread!! It's only now that she has retired she is wondering why she did that job for all that time in the twilight of her working years. ..anyway I digress...
We met in Leeds and had a lovely bowl of homemade soup in the Playhouse cafe where we caught up on the goings on in our respective lives as we only meet up occasionally.
I didn't know what to expect of the production which was performed by an all woman cast from The 'foursight' company but it was full of surprises right from the beginning.
A huge handbag is pushed onto the stage and opens up to reveal Maggie sitting inside it. This is Narrator Maggie, played by Sarah Thom who remains onstage almost throughout. She gives a plausible performance of Maggie as an octogenarian, slightly unsteady on her feet but still showing the battling qualities for which Mrs Thatcher is best known.
The play is vibrant and funny and portrays the best bits of Maggie's long life, with nine actors playing the Grantham grocer's daughter at different points in her mainly political life before all of them appear on stage as Mrs T for the finale.
Apart from the handbag, there's a basic set with an elevated door to Number Ten taking up a strategic central position and little else, although the accompaning organ at one point spins around to become a tank. This is at the point in the show when Maggie's popularity as prime Minister is at an all time low, Maggie the narrator declares "A war fell right into my hands, it threw me a lifeline, it worked for me Tony...the secret is.. to be under attack!"
The 'Foursight' actors specialise in physical theatre, they adopt different facial expressions and add a pair of glasses to turn into different characters.
Highlights of the show are MPs on opposing sides in the House of Commons being portrayed as dogs baying at one another; the Maggie who belts out a punk rock song in the style of Johnny Rotten; and the troubled times of Maggie's leadership which are represented by a storm at sea. There is also a skit on the miners strike and a fight ensues between Arthur Scargill and Maggie (very funny...the sketch that is; not the real life events)
All in all not a bad afternoon's entertainment for a £5 stand by ticket

At the Clore interactive gallery in Manchester I came upon these teenagers with their school group happily writing their dream destinitions on blank tags in order to contribute by tying them to this interesting exhibit.

The exhibit was a huge structure with various types of luggage and baggage attached and the observer was invited to add their own written luggage tag to hang from it.
It was pleasurable to read some of the entries, they ranged from the poignant
" I wish I was in Pakistan so I could visit my grandma" to
" I want to sit on a sunny balcony in Torremolinas with Jonathan Middleton from year 11"

Needless to say I added my own contribution

I brought a couple of tags back so that you can join in the fun (aren't I considerate ,lol)
So there you go where would you really like to be ?
Answers on a tag please

Another painting I viewed at my visit to Manchester art gallery

Hylas and the nymphs - John William Waterhouse

When the ship of the Argonauts reached the island of Cios, Hylas, the young and handsome companion of Hercules, was sent ashore in search of water. He discovered a fountain, but the nymphs of the place were so enchanted by his beauty that they pulled him to the depths of their watery abode, and in spite of the cries of Hercules which made the shores reverberate with the name Hylas, the young man was never seen again.

My computer is on the blink, my broadband connection is working but I can't seem to load any web pages I am at a computer in the library just prior to joining my weekly spanish group for the class.
I have messaged my son-in-law to see if he can come over to fix it but he's sooooo busy what with arranging builders for their house renovation and apart from the fact that he is travelling to South Africa on Saturday and has to pack yet.
I am reasonably optimistic that he will make time to take a look, but if not, i'll pop in whenever I can.
An addict always finds a way. lol

Three muggers got more than they bargained for when they tried to rob a pensioner - who happened to be an ex-boxing champion. Former light middleweight George Bayliss, 67, caught the ringleader with a swift left hook and the trio turned tail and ran.
Mr Bayliss, who won the British amateur title 40 years ago said: "They weren't up to much as opponents, i've faced tougher people in the ring."
He was attacked after collecting his pension near his home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Good on 'im.

I'm in the house alone once more so i've been uselessly whiling away the time and came upon this anagram website where you can generate your own anagrams. click here
They gave a few examples which were quite apt and amusing
"George Bush" gives "He bugs Gore", "Madonna Louise Ciccone" gives "Occasional nude income" and "William Shakespeare", "I am a weakish speller"??!

Seeing as all my blog friends have a sense of humour (I hope), I put in a few random names to see if anything satirical and sensical came up.

Here are some results

'Welshceltgirlblogger'
anagrams to
'Well gigglers belch rot.'

'faffajaneblogger'
anagrams to
'Jer of affable gang.'

'Marikasunseekerblogger'
anagrams to
'Skunk or seemlier garbage.'

'terirblogger'
anagrams to
'Glib or regret.'

'pompadourblogger'
anagrams to
'Pop! Good! A grumbler.'
'pompadour'
anagrams to
'Up mad, poor.'

'goingsomewhereblogger'
anagrams to
'Whose noble, groggier gem.'
'goingsomewhere'
anagrams to
'More egos whinge.'

'ethelredblogger'
anagrams to
'Blether doggerel.'
'ethelred'
anagrams to
'The elder.'

'leeblogger'
anagrams to
'Bore leg leg.'

'deadheadblogger'
anagrams to
'Hog degraded able.'

'michaelstmark'
anagrams to
'Smart aleck him.'

and finally...

'isadorablogger'
anagrams to
'Solid or garbage'....... I'll let you decide, lol

disclaimer:
Isadora would like to add that none of these anagrams are her own personal thoughts

This week was the first time in about three years that we have had veteran ex servicemen selling armistice poppies in the foyer.
The sudden absence of them co-incided with the arrival of a new General Store Manager. This whizz kid stopped lots of promotions taking place in the foyer as he wanted the foyer floor space kept clutter free (more room for stock, more like) but the official line for their absence was that there were not enough volunteers to man all the positions needed for the Armistice day collections, presumably because the old soldiers were in short supply due to ill health, death etc.
Well, as I said, they were back collecting this week and doing great trade (they had been previously 'missed' by the customers) and this strangely co-incides with reports that our GSM is transferring to another store later this month.
Anyway to anyone who hasn't got their poppy, here's one for you for a small donation of course

Why does it take two months, four different doctor's appointments with three different Doctors, £40 worth of prescriptions, e.g. eardrops, creams, congestion tablets etc.. and having to have a rant explaining you're going deaf and it hurts, before the doctor finally says "yes you've got an infection and here's some penicillin".
They had better work 'cos yes you've guessed, i'm miserable and everyone is tired of hearing me complain. T'old man has just said "Stop moaning will you, I don't know what you'd do if you really had something wrong with you
Right, i'll take my third capsule then it's Off to work I go for the twilight shift, at least it will take my mind off this fog in my head

Like I said,
I managed to book a ticket for the matinee show of 'The Merchants of Bollywood 'at around teatime on Monday. so...on Tuesday night after arriving at Bella's flat in Manchester we enjoyed our promised king prawn, rogan josh, takeaway with all the accompaniments (just to keep to the indian theme) and on Wednesday morning after Bella went to work I escorted T'old man to the coach station then I gleefully made my way to Manchester Opera House to collect my reserved ticket.
"I'm sorry "said the girl at the box office, the matinee show has been cancelled"
"CANCELLED, what do you mean cancelled ? I only booked my ticket online at 5pm on Monday".
"It was a late decision" she added, "the show only opened last night (tuesday) and it was decided that the Wednesday matinee was to be cancelled due to unforseen problems"
"PROBLEMS"what problems?
"i'm sorry that's all we've been told"
"no, I can't come tonight! Bella's cooking me a meal and yes, I would like a refund on my card".

This is where I would usually tell you how much I enjoyed the vibrant singing and dancing and how wonderful the costumes were but seeing as my alternative afternoon 'fill-in' was to visit the delightful Manchester art gallery, i'll tell you about one of the paintings I admired there instead.

THE DESERT 1849
Sir Edwin Landseer 1802-1873
Oil on canvas

According to one contemporary account,
Landseer used a dead lion from London Zoo
as a model for this mysterious painting.
Some ten years later he sculpted four large lions,
again using a dead beast from the Zoo,
to be cast in bronze for Trafalgar Square.
It is also claimed that this painting was the inspiration for the lion printed on every tin of Lyle's Golden Syrup which has been named as Britain's oldest brand, with its green and gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885.

Morning all

I'm just about ready to set off to catch the coach to Manchester at a bargain 'fun-fare' price of £1 Leeds to manchester!! I've packed the coffee set and other sundries that she might need as this is the first time we've visited Bella in her new accommodation.
T'old man is only staying for one night whilst i'm staying for two, the only reason i'm staying over at all is because the boyfriend is working in Cardiff all week.
We'll be ordering indian takeaway tonight to complement the matinee theatre show that I will be attending tomorrow at Manchester Opera House (I did manage to reserve a last minute ticket for Merchants of Bollywood).

Got to go, see you in a couple of days

isadora X

I got woken up early this morning with t'old man saying he was going over to my eldest daughter's newly bought victorian semi which she has started to renovate and that he would be helping them rip out the old kitchen units (it has a beautiful old Aga which is staying) and then he would be going on to attend Mass as all good catholic lads do Four hours later he phoned to say he'd been to Mass,all his sins were forgiven and he was just popping in to the pub with Jimmy Murphy and Joe O'Connell for a couple of pints (as some good catholic lads do)
Meanwhile,it's a good job I had planned on cooking a pork and sausage casserole for dinner as this dish is easy to warm up if said bloke doesn't turn up for his dinner at the allotted hour.
Once I had donned my apron I decided to use up all the reduced produce I had recently fetched home from the 'super', so the couple of small pumpkins that I had purchased for 10p each were transformed into some lovely soup using the recipe I posted a while ago, even if I say so myself it really is delicious.
Apart from the casserole and the soup I also made a large shepherd's pie (while the oven was going) and I used the remainder of the sausage for toad in the hole.
T'old man arrived home just as the cooking time was over. He was delighted as he had been expecting a sour face and a microwaved dinner
After clearing away the dirty dishes I relaxed for a while, read some of the Sunday paper then decided to wrap a 1960's powder blue coffee set in newspaper and box it ready to take over to Manchester on Tuesday.
When Bella was about 15/16 I had dragged her into a charity shop where she spied this old coffee set comprising 6 small coffee cups, 6 small saucers, milk and sugar set and a coffee pot, it was nothing special although it was in perfect condition but she loved it's shape and powder blue colour.
"It's only a fiver mum, when I have a place of my own i'm not going to drink out of ugly mugs, i'm going to use a little coffee set like that".
So I bought it for her and tucked it away in the back of the cabinet where it has resided ever since.
She has just spent four years in university accommodation and NO, she didn't want the coffee set...then, yesterday she phoned;
"Mum, you know that coffee set we bought eight years ago, please can you bring it over with you when you come to visit on Tuesday?"

THAT'S IT THEN.....my baby aint ever coming home

I'm going out just now to oversee and maintain (in my professional capacity, of course) an orderly queue at the fireworks stand at the supermarket.
Sold to over 18's only with the kids choosing .
I hope they don't sell out prematurely as they did last year or I will be getting a load of "earache" from the disgruntled customers to add to the earache i've already got.

See you later

I've just got back from my Friday afternoon dance class, just the job to blow those end of week cobwebs away.
We are gearing up for our Xmas party in four weeks time by learning a new dance routine. Sometimes the dances are slow and sensual often with veils, sometimes they are more earthy and grounded but the music our dance teacher Melissa has chosen for us today is much more funkier than we usually dance to. This is a bit risky on Melissa's part seeing as two thirds of the class are aged between 45 and 60
Can we keep the pace ?...the next few weeks will tell.
Melissa has printed off some leaflets advertising the party, We all love Melissa very much so I just wanted to show her off and share it with you She is a very talented lady and must have the patience of a saint trying to teach us geriatrics to dance but she is always upbeat and has us smiling (if not exhausted) by the end of the class. She is a children's dance teacher too (teaching tap and ballet) and also sings semi-professionally, often turning her hand at a Shirley Bassey tribute act. We've told her that with her singing and dancing combined, never mind Shirley Bassey, she'd make a great Shakira

I've been having quite a bit of trouble with my ears lately and i've been suffering from eye strain too. My doc suggested I go for an eye test as one was due. I have had perfect eyesight up until a couple of years ago when I resigned myself to wearing simple reading glasses. I feel that my increased use of the computer this last year or so has contributed to the eye strain I have been suffering (I have taken note of your guidelines, Skip).
The outcome of the examination was good, I just have to have another pair of reading glasses with slightly stronger lens.

Things could have been worse I think. Fortunately this was NOT one of the eye tests I had

I decided to post a bit of cut and paste as I got to thinking about the dia del muerte celebrations in Mexico. Two years ago before t'old man had his operation 'bowel resection' we had planned to go to Mexico city and on to Oaxaca where the day is celebrated big time, of course things were put on hold and stayed that way for two years.
Things seem to get in the way with us whenever we plan to do something together away from our 'norm', for instance in 1997 we were booked to go to Egypt just 10 days after the Luxor massacre so the whole caboodle was cancelled.
Timing is of the essence but I don't doubt that we will get to these destinations someday.
-----

Every year, on November 1st (All Saints Day) and 2nd (All Souls Day), something unique takes place in many areas of Mexico: Day of the Dead festivities. While it's strange for most of us to accept the fact that "death" and "festivities" can go hand-in-hand, for most Mexicans, the two are intricately entwined. This all stems from the ancient indigenous peoples of Mexico (Purepecha, Nahua, Totonac and Otomí) who believed that the souls of the dead return each year to visit with their living relatives - to eat, drink and be merry. Just like they did when they were living.

Colorful flowers in the marketplace. Tempered somewhat by the arrival of the Spaniards in the 15th century, current practice calls for the deceased children (little angels) to be remembered on the previous day (November 1st, All Saints Day) with toys and colorful balloons adorning their graves. And the next day, All Souls Day, adults who have died are honored with displays of the departed's favorite food and drinks, as well as ornamental and personal belongings. Flowers, particularly the zempasúchil (an Indian word for a special type of marigold) and candles, which are placed on the graves, are supposed to guide the spirits home to their loved ones.

A decorated gravesite. Other symbols include the elaborately-decorated pan de muerto (a rich coffee cake decorated with meringues made to look like bones), skull-shaped candies and sweets, marizpan death figures and papier maché skeletons and skulls. (the Nahua speaking peoples of pre-columbian Mexico saw the skull as a symbol of life - not death.) Today, these macabre symbols and other similar items fill the shops and candy stalls by mid October. During this time, homes are often decorated in the same manner as the graves.

This may all seem morbid and somewhat ghoulish to those who are not part of that culture. But, for Mexicans who believe in the life/death/rebirth continuum, it's all very natural. this is not to say that they treat death lightly. They don't. It's just that they recognize it, mock it, even defy it. Death is part of life and, as such, it's representative of the Mexican spirit and tradition which says: "Don't take anything lying down - even death!"

The family has decorated this gravesite with favorite items. First the graves and altars are prepared by the entire family, whose members bring the departed's favorite food and drink. Candles are lit, the ancient incense copal is burned, prayers and chants for the dead are intoned and then drinks and food are consumed in a party/picnic-like atmosphere. At 6:00 pm, the bells begin to ring (every 30 seconds), summoning the dead. They ring throughout the night. At sunrise, the ringing stops and those relatives who have kept the night-long vigil, go home.

The most vivid and moving Day of the Dead celebrations take place on ths island of Janitzio in Lago de Pátzcuaro. Here, at the crack of dawn (on November 1st) the Purepechan Indians get the festivities going with a ceremonial duck hunt. At midnight, the cooked duck and other zesty edibles are brought to the cemetery in the flickering light of thousands of candles. Those visitors who come are in for an awesome spectacle as the women pray and the men chant throughout the chilly night. Other candle-lit ceremonies take place in the nearby towns of Tzintzuntzan (the ancient capital of the Purepechan people), Jaráuaro and Erongarícuaro. If you're thinking of witnessing this annual spectacle next year, it's best to make reservations right now since available hotels do fill up quickly.

The graveyards will be filled with family on Dia de los Muertos.