length of days
yesterday was the winter solstice (the 21st), today was the first day of the longer days.
not very noticable but according to astronomical calculations for thousands of years, from the time of the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year) the time afterwards are days which lengthen towards the longest day in the year which is the summer solstice.

haven't done too much in the past few days since the weekend of the 12th.
sunday of week before i ended up going to san diego anyway for papa's 40th day memorial feast (even though it was actually on the 10th).
it was the only day m family could reserve a public place for his memorial celebration, and mama really felt obligated to everyone who came to his funeral or those who simply offered sympathy to come and offer their respect one last time by coming together for his 40th day memorial last sunday.

i definitely didn't feel the need to go myself.
i felt like i already did my part and padi my respects and after all it was past his 40th day already, the traditional mourning period (which also used to be for a year traditionally).
....
....but every 12th of december i always celebrate guadalupe day in some way or another.
when i was in seattle i always went to the celebrations, in san diego i always tried to go to the mananitas, or at least pay my respects to the Tonantzin in some way.
this year i didn't want it to be any different.
i do it out of a sense of tradition as well as gratitude; as a form of the traditional 'promesa' that is offered in thanksgiving.
but this year, it was not meant to be, with having to be in temecula so often, and having to deal with a sick pet again, it was not gonna happen.
little Diego, another of my poor pet rats, got sick over the weekend, aarne took him in saturday and they called early morning (or rather tried to and got some wrong number....bizarre details), anyway, they tried to call us and tell us that the poor little ratty died anyway, they could not save him.
it would seem naming him Diego was inauspicious on guadalupe day since after coming from the memorial in san diego that night, we passed by old st mary's church in escondido, and i knew the church would be open to we stopped by to pay our respects, and as i sat there in the pew looking at the brightly decorated shrine to the virgen, i looked up at her face and cried, i was reminded that she loved juan diego, and i though how she must have taken little diego to her that morning as a special mananita.
the thought would be absurd if not ridiculous to pious catholics or mexicans out there, but to me it made perfect sense.
she is formost as Tonantzin to me.
this is what i was taught growing up from the storied we learned in school as a child going to our lady of angels in golden hill. every year we reenacted the story of tepeyac and cuauhtlatohuac (he-who-speaks-like-an-eagle, or "singing eagle").
being the mother of life, all came back to her as they came from her womb.
aunque le hagas reir, la Morenita lloraba conmigo.....

so little Diego, rodent or not, was hers as well as i see it.