Halloween Month

Jack and Kerrie at Clancy's Pumpkin Patch

Jack was with Tom this year for Halloween, but as you know, I like to celebrate holidays all month long, so Jack and I found time to usher in the Fall and celebrate Halloween.

We kicked off our Fall festivities the first weekend in October with Cousin Kerrie and Clancy’s Pumpkin Patch. Clancy's is the only pumpkin patch in the City that’s complete with hay tunnels and a hay ride (albeit, a couple of times around the parking lot). When we got home, we decorated the windows with those thin plastic cling-ons. Interestingly, Jack liked to group all the spiders and bats on one window, all the pumpkins on another, and all the solid black ones like mice and owls on a third window. We made a little haunted house, and a couple of bats from black pompoms. The smaller of our pumpkins was transformed into the superhero Captain America with Mr. Potatohead-esque arms, legs, and head that you stick right into the pumpkin. We completed our decorating with a little sprinkle of the smallest pumpkins, skulls, a string of lights around the fireplace, and a perch of a few black crows on some branches.

CLICK HERE for pictures of our pumpkin patch excursion and Halloween decorating.

Later, Jack was really excited about carving a pumpkin and when we were finished he gave it a big hug. One of the funny things about living in San Francisco is that we have hot weather for most of October so our pumpkin quickly developed a thick layer of mold and rotted within a few days. Note to self for next year: be sure to buy two or three large pumpkins at the pumpkin patch to have some on hand!

CLICK HERE for pictures with Jack and his pumpkin.

Jack had his first opportunity to wear his Batman costume when we headed back to the Bay Area Discovery Museum for our third year at their annual Goblin Jamboree. It’s great to come home with a treat bag of plastic spiders and stickers instead of candy. This fun fundraiser has become an annual event for us – see how Jack has grown and flashback to our previous visits.

CLICK HERE for this year's pictures in Jack's Batman costume at the Goblin Jamboree.

Lastly, just before Halloween, Jack and I drove to Monterey for the weekend. Monterey has an amazing aquarium and a beautiful coastline to explore that kept us busy. We were also able to get in some trick-or-treating along the main drag through town, Lighthouse Avenue, where business owners dressed up and handed out candy. Jack was Spiderman this time. It was another hot day and we finished trick-or-treating just as Jack started complaining he was hot and wanted to take off his costume – just as well, the candy was melting too!

CLICK HERE for more pictures of our trip to Monterey's Aquarium, coastline, and Trck-or-Treating,

 

Sharing our Monterey treasures with you

 

 

 

Dia De Los Muertos

Papel picado ("perforated paper").
Delicate paper cutouts that are strung together on a string into a banner.

Jack’s preschool recently contacted parents to bring in pictures of loved ones who had passed. They were going to create an altar in celebration of Dia De Los Muertos (the Day of the Dead).

Decorated sugar skulls are traditional

DDLM is a Mexican holiday, founded in Aztec roots, that’s celebrated each year on November 1^st and 2^nd. Because we have a large Mexican population in San Francisco, it’s a prominent holiday and you’ll find altars dedicated to loved ones in storefront windows and all around the Mission district (largely Mexican) at this time of year. Skeletons are particularly iconic for DDLM and as homage to this cultural tradition. The City even placed custom designed rod iron gratings that feature skeletons around newly planted trees when they did a recent facelift of the Mission district. Even so, I hadn’t really participated in DDLM in the 15 years I have been out here.

I had mixed feelings about the school’s request for pictures. Both of Jack’s Grandpas had passed but I don’t believe either Tom or I ever fully explained that they were dead; emphasis on using the word “dead”. And Jack saw them only a few times, so he never asked where they were and we were able to evade a difficult subject. When my Dad passed, Jack was two. He came to the funeral home, but family kept him busy and he played downstairs with all of his little cousins while the sadness and tears played out upstairs. I don’t remember telling him that Grandpa “died”. When Tom’s father passed this summer, Tom and I weren’t together and I wasn't allowed at the funeral. I gave suggestions to Tom about how to explain Grandpa’s death to Jack and what he would see at the funeral which he attended, but I’m not sure what message was ultimately was conveyed, if any. At that time, I did discuss with Jack that a cemetary is a place for our bodies when they don’t work anymore and explained that's where Grandpa is – but we didn’t discuss further. 

Playing games at Casa Bonampak

In talking with Jack’s teachers about my concerns, I learned that DDLM is meant to be celebratory. It’s a time when life and the memories of our loved ones are festively celebrated – an annual way not to forget them, to celebrate what they mean (present tense) to us, and what we have to be thankful for in our own lives. In a spiritual sense, they are welcomed back to celebrate with the living – in Mexico, some families even have a picnic at the cemetery.

I finally did email a picture of Jack with my Dad for Jack to place on the altar at school. And noticed that Tom did the same. The kids made traditional skulls out of sugar and placed them on the altar alongside the pictures.

I wanted to learn more about what Jack was learning about DDLM, so I volunteered to be a parent escort on a field trip to Casa Bonampak, a store in the Mission that’s dedicated to preserving Mexican culture and traditions. The store is a few blocks from school. When we arrived at the store, the kids sat in a big circle and listened to the owner describe DDLM in the context of her own recent loss of her dog. All of the kids played a traditional Mexican game (like bingo) and the winner was honored with a colorful eggshell filled with confetti that was cracked over her head. That afternoon, I went back to Casa Bonampak and bought a banner (pictured at the top) and two sugar skulls – one for each Grandpa. Jack and I made a little altar together at home and we placed the sugar skull that he made at school alongside a paper airplane and a beaded bracelet he made next to the pictures.

Jack and friend, Alex, at taqueria

That night we went with a friend to the annual DDLM procession in the Mission that was a mix of art installation and dance with a lively procession through the streets. We ate at a taqueria for dinner (a cheap Mexican restaurant where you order at the counter and grab a seat) and then headed to Garfield Park where the action was. Our walk through the neighborhood to the park was candlelit as we passed several altars dedicated to loved ones. At the park we found huge altars of various forms and interactivity - some were huge, some were small, some encouraged us to write a note and post it to a roll of paper that spanned nearly a block or beckoned us to decorate paper feathers that we pinned to an altar. There was an amazing troupe of women who danced the flamenco in their flowing dresses and painted faces which captivated Jack and his friend (and their Mommies).



In the end, I discovered the positivity of DDLM and found it a wonderful way to connect to the diversity and community of our neighborhood and city. We've added a new tradition to our family.

CLICK HERE for pictures of our fieldtrip to Casa Bonampak and the nighttime festival in Garfield Park.

Make Yourself Comfortable

Stella started snoozing and before you know it, her head fell out of the soft sided bed and rested comfortably (presumably) on the rug!

 

 

Snuggle Nest

Jack made a snuggle nest with his red robe, slippers, stuffed lamb, Spiderman pillow, and assortment of loveys. He was so happy being all snuggled up in its softness.

Hiking in Glen Canyon

I was interested in doing something new one recent weekend, so Jack and went "to the woods" and did a little hiking. I thought it would be nice to get away from the city's hustle and bustle and expose Jack to the joy of nature.

We didn't wander far and opted to go to Glen Canyon in San Francisco. The canyon felt like a world away. All your senses were challenged -- it was strikingly quiet and you could hear the birds flying above you, the smells were different (like eucalyptus and wet leaves), and there were few people in sight.

I brought along a big baggie for Jack to put his treasures in.

We climbed up a set of stairs and walked along the ridge that led us past some rocks formations, to another set of stairs, and up a hill where we sat and rested before making our way slowly back down.

CLICK HERE for more pictures.

ABCJACKSON

Jack has been interested in writing his name and recently did a pretty good job!



 



Spiderman: the movie