It had better be just around the corner.  It certainly appears that it is as there are so many events taking place.  The return of our first Mermaid Market will be October 15th. For those of you have not gone to the Mermaid Market, it is comprised of local artists, photographers, jewelry makers etc.  It is a great place to do your Christmas shopping early.    That along with the Cervantino Festival will prove to be a very busy weekend.

The shrimp boats have been lining up on the weekends to unload their catch and from what I understand and have seen pictures of, the catch is great and the sizes are large.  At night you can sit and look over the Sea of Cortez and see them bobbing off on the horizon and there have been at least 25 every night.  As a friend put it recently, it looked like a freeway of boats.

The sunset cruises have also been very busy almost every night except Wednesdays.  Last weekend everyone one of them was out every night.  The Hobe Cats are still in town for the last weekend of the competition and that has been so much fun to watch.  The para sailor is up constantly, so it is looking like a great start for businesses.

Out on Rodeo Drive, there was a lot of people and they were buying.  It is fall break and so lots of families enjoying what Puerto Peñasco has to offer.  Mariachi’s and Tequila has re-opened and has a great chef form the Mayan Palace.  If you  like Mole, the enchiladas in Mole was to die for.  For a Tuesday they were very busy so I am sure it will only get better.

Our upcoming Bike fest is just about 30 days away and we have had  nearly 200 pre-register, so if that is any indication of how many people will be here, it will be awesome.  If you are coming down go to the website for the Barb’s Rescue.  There will be a list of items needed that perhaps you can bring down  and make a tax deductible donation for food.  You can bring dog food down if it is Costco Chicken in the 38 lb bag or you can buy it here at Welton out near the Police Station.  The one thing they really need is for volunteers to come out and play with the dogs to help get them ready for adoption.  We may just even have some puppies at the rally registration for you to play with.  You can make a donation while you are registering if you would like.

This is the perfect weather to go out to the Estuary Morua and have some clams or oysters and enjoy the views.

The last thing I would like to talk about is the end of the month will be Dia de  Muertos (Day of the Dead) and Dia de  Nino’s (day of children that have passed). The holidays coincides with  All Souls & All Saints Day.  This holiday is when the families go to the cemetery to clean the graves, re-paint things and after all that is done they have a party.  This holiday which starts on October 31 is when the Mexican people believe that heaven opens up the gates to allow the children (angelitos) who have passed, to come over and spend 24 hours with their families.  Toys and candies are left for the children in the cemetery.  On the night of the 31st the families hold a vigil all night to welcome the angelitas.

In the homes and businesses the families build altars(ofrendas) that consist of a photo of the deceased, wild yellow Marigolds and Cock’s Comb flowers, mounds of fruits and nuts as well as platters of food and of course Day of the Dead bread called Pan de Muerto.  These altars are decorated with paper flowers as well as sugar skulls (which can be purchased in every grocery store).  In the south of Mexico they make them of chocolate and they also make full size sugar skulls. On November 2nd is when the families clean the graves and tell stories about the deceased.  It is on this night that the spirit of the adults come down to enjoy what has been prepared for them.  Please come down and feel free to visit the cemeteries to see the tradition.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at nocomosi@msn.com for a rapid response.  Remember we are only an hour across the Mexican Border.