We're Back and Fishing

We made it back from Mexico and settled in to freeze. Post Falls has been just plain cold and so what do you do when it is so cold out side?  You head down south and do some steelhead fishing on the Snake and Clearwater rivers!

I joined my two friends Tom and Mark for a couple days of fishing. The weather changed for the better and we had two days of fun casting and even catching. Wednesday we fished the Snake River in the area close to the Grand Ronde.  Tom hooked five steelheads, landing three wild ones.  I hooked four fish and landed two.  Mark let us have all the fun but showed us up when he caught the only steelhead up on the Clearwater on Thursday.

Here are a few shots I took with my phone.  The photos of me are taken by Tom, I look like I am wrestling the fish and loosing.  LOL

El fin está cerca!

Our new room's door was a tad short for me.

The last couple nights of our stay were very laid back. On Saturday night we went to a huge art gallery and roamed about rubbing elbows with the rich gringos. It was the place to be and we only stayed for about an hour.  There were some very beautiful art pieces that we were able to view but we didn't have an extra $10000, so we passed.

Linda and I came home early and started our packing.  Daren and Marcy were not far behind.

Oferenda at the art gallery.

Hobbit house that we found in the base of a tree.

I have never seen a pomegranate tree. There you go!

On Sunday we all walked to the big cemetery in San Miguel. Hundreds of people were visiting the resting place of friends and loved ones. The mood in the cemetery was a mixture of somber and happy. It is a little hard to explain. There were flowers everywhere and almost every grave was adorned is some fashion. Music was playing and at the same time Mariachi were playing songs a various graves. People were digging and cleaning up grave sites. Children were fetching water for plants and flowers. Priests were sitting, available for a blessing or simply to chat. Many families were sitting eating and chatting at their loved ones resting place. We were struck by the friendly open feeling throughout the grave yard.

After we walked through the area we went out and had some lunch. Linda and I went and did some final shopping and Daren and Marcy went the the Jardin and watched people. All of us returned to the casa and did our final packing for tomorrows long day of traveling.

Walking to lay flowers in the cemetery.

Marcy and Linda at lunch.

Halloween in the Jardin

Throughout the past three days the town has been gearing up for Oct. 31, Nov.1 and Nov.2. Ofrendas have been set up everywhere. We walk the city and are amazed by the creativity of these alters of respect and honor. Every display is unique, but after reading about these Ofrendas we found they contain many of the same types of items. If you want to know a bit more about Day of the Dead Ofrendas visit this page here.

Sonic Butterfly, a performance by Andra Brook was the center of the action on Friday night. The three days prior stainless steel wires were run from the cathedral down to the Jardin and connected to Sonic Butterfly.  A huge sound system was erected Friday and then at 9:15 PM we got to watch a very interesting performance. If you are interested you can see a performance she did at Burning Man, or you can see a couple of clips I made here.

Andrea Brook readies Sonic Butterfly for evening performance.

A face painters paradise!

Parade of the Catrinas and Catrines.

Sonic Butterfly performs.

Another fire dance during Sonic Butterfly.

Just one of the elaborate costumes from the night.