Days of the Dead

My dad, who went to Catholic school, said when he was a kid they celebrated All Saints Day on Nov. 1 and everyone wore gory costumes of martyred saints for a school parade.

In Mexico and parts of the U.S., on Nov. 1 and 2 they celebrate Dias de Los Muertos to honor departed loved ones, and dressing up/face painting is just one tiny aspect.

Around here, Halloween is not just one night of trick-or-treating like it used to be. There are harvest carnivals, the pumpkin patch and house parties, each requiring (my kids think) a different costume.

I think we should have more dress up holidays. It’s fun to be someone else for awhile.

 Tonight I might try my hand at a homemade altar. What holidays do you celebrate this time of year? Any of them? All of them?