Final shot, as promised. It is very late and the dead have returned to their rest for another year.
I don’t know if I built it up too much, but I like it. I like the idea of this small altar with the skulls and flowers all around and the candles that will burn into the night.
Picture this altar, meticulously and carefully arranged upon a stone slab in a crowded graveyard in a burnt-orange town or sand-blown village. Children are laughing and playing amongst the dusty tombstones. Families are sharing food and drinks while gentle breezes skip, soft and dry, touching lightly and lifting easy over warm and blushing skin, the way it does when you are far out in the desert. As darkness falls, the dusky air gets cooler and the little ones gather and tuck in closer as night takes hold. Final words are said and prayers are whispered too low to hear, eyes and hands search and fold, clutching at the skyline, but the time has come to say goodbye. The dead are left to lay, quiet and peaceful, resting again, with their own. They remain as bodies below our feet, yet spirits within our hearts and minds. While the flames of our steadfast watch silently burn, deepest night arrives. Black and still, it covers and comforts even the most restless soul and it seems intrusive to stay. When dawn lifts her weary head to herald in a bright new day, the magic will be gone, hidden amongst the wilted flowers and broken candy shells. In the glare of unforgiving sunlight, the altar is just a colorful reminder of what we remember and why. We feel lucky and joyful to be alive. We pay our respects but save a bit for ourselves. We must now carry the honor of living for those who cannot. Time belongs to us again and we have a job to keep.
(Dia de los muertos by Pristine Cartera-Turkus)
God pours life into death and death into life without a drop being spilled. ~Author Unknown
just shy of pretty 
Lorraine said,
November 3, 2011 at 11:04 am
I learned something new!
masnstevy said,
November 3, 2011 at 1:28 pm
That’s all I ever ask!!! Hahaha! Thanks for being a loyal reader! Did you see that I am occasionally getting “likes” on some of my posts!?! It’s so exciting!! Learn to do that too please, it just looks bad when I have to like all my own stuff!!
Lorraine said,
November 4, 2011 at 8:17 am
I can’t see the “likes”! Now you know I don’t link to be out of the loop in “knowing” something!
Lorraine said,
November 4, 2011 at 8:19 am
Oh….found the “like”. Duh! 🙂 I am a bit slow at times!
masnstevy said,
November 4, 2011 at 10:02 am
Thank you! I sure do appreciate that!!