Even the Dead Are Rising Up to Dance

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In honor of Día de los Muertos, here are our skull bread and bones (although they look rather like dog biscuits) and the bilingual song by Tish Hinojosa that we sing every year after the lighting of the candles. For more on this celebration, and the recipe for anise-flavored Pan de Muerto, please see Día de los Muertos.

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Hasta Los Muertos Salen a Bailar

La luna llena acaba de llegar
El otro mundo empieza a despertar
Bajo las sombras vamos a cantar
Hasta los muertos salen a bailar.
Al camposanto, hay que celebrar
Porque esta noche todo es embrujar
Y el coyote empieza a aullar
Hasta los muertos salen a bailar.

Chorus

Flores, canciones, papel de colores
Olores de antojos que traen
Quienes recuerdan amores, santos, pecadores
Allí vamos a estar.
A
The moon is full of something on the rise
The other world is opening its eyes
Out in the graveyard, we will sing a stance
Even the dead are rising up to dance.

Chorus

Love songs and flowers and papers, bright colors
And smells of the food that we bring
There we remember the saints and the sinners
This night with them we will sing.
A
Los embrujados salen a bailar
Y La Llorona mira donde está
Ai con la momia enruedada va
Hasta los muertos salen a bailar.
A
Los abuelitos salen a bailar
Tíos y tías salen a bailar
Hasta monjitas van de allá pa’ca
Hasta los muertos salen a bailar.
A
La luna llena acaba de llegar
El otro mundo empieza a despertar
Out in the grave yard we will sing a stance
Even the dead are rising up to dance.
A
Hasta los muertos salen a bailar.
Even the dead are rising up to dance.

—Tish Hinojosa

Birthday

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DianneDetail

Today is the birthday of my cousin Dianne and her twin sister Monica. Dianne would have been 53. She passed away this past Sunday, October 2nd, after a year-long struggle with two rare blood disorders. Dianne was so optimistic and cheerful throughout the course of this painful condition and its equally (if not more) painful treatments that both family and hospital staff really thought she would pull through. She leaves behind a beloved husband and two sons, as well as the large extended family of siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews who provided a warm loving ongoing support system, for her and for each other. Now continuing, as necessary as ever in the wake of her loss.

I see that the card I made for her last birthday (detail above) has an entirely different meaning today.

CakeBeachDianne CakeAutLeaves2Monica


 

Michaelmas/Rosh Hashanah

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Dragon2603

This year two festivals of autumn fall upon the same day: Michaelmas, the feast of the dragon-conquering St. Michael the Archangel, and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. And appropriately so, since both, although from different spiritual traditions, call for reflection upon and atonement for our deeds and misdeeds of the past year and a courageous awakening to our innermost thoughts. The days now grow shorter, and as we head into winter we plan consciously to nurture the light within.

So in our family we honor the season ecumenically, if perhaps sacrilegiously, and don red garments, blow our tofu horn, say special verses and blessings to help us reflect, and share apples dipped in honey and challah baked in the shape of a dragon. A light-filled MichaelmHashanah to you.

CakeYellowRoses2Dad

The Survivor Tree

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TreeBookCoverSm

This summer I completed the illustrations and layout for The Survivor Tree, a book by Cheryl Somers Aubin, created to help children deal with the traumatic experiences suffered on September 11th, 2001, in particular, and with loss and the struggle to heal, in general. Here is a brief summary of the book.

A month after the collapse of the Twin Towers, workers on the site discovered a few green leaves showing through the gray concrete and ash. Clearing the debris, they found a badly injured Callery Pear Tree. She was rescued and taken to a nursery outside the city and put into the care of Richie, a City Parks worker. No one was sure if she would live, but the following spring, a dove built a nest in her branches, and new green buds appeared.

Over the years, the tree, although still bearing scars, grew tall and strong, and last year she was replanted on the 9/11 Memorial Plaza. This story imaginatively describes the experiences, memories, and feelings of the tree throughout her healing and her eventual return home.

The book is available from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. All profits from its sale go to charity.

Yahrzeit3 Jim