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Marigolds are everywhere in San Miguel de Allende this time of year. They are like a homing beacon for our departed loved ones. It is how we let them know we welcome their spirits back for a short visit. It is how we let them know that we have not forgotten them.

The marigolds are on ofrendas — the altars we build to remember our deceased loved ones and family. They are in our parks. and other public gardens. They hang from door frames of businesses and homes.

This year, the spirit of Dia de Muertos seems to be embraced more than ever. The list of events in hotels, restaurants, public squares, and cantinas is staggering. Everybody is in on the action and it seems to be working. The visitors are swarming to the city.

Here are just a few photos to give a sense of what it is like wading through the Marigold Sea that is our city today. Some of these have already been posted on Facebook but not all my blog friends are Facebook friends.

Some of the decorations along Calle Cuna de Allende which runs adjacent to the Parroquia in Centro:

Colorful paper cutouts cover Calle Jesus in Centro:

Make no bones about it, skeletons are everywhere. sometimes you need to look up, like these characters on Aldama (left) and Calle Terraplen (center). At right, Rose Alcantara and Moppit hand out with newlyweds, or newly deads, at the roundabout in front of the hotel El Golpe de Vista on Saturday:

This is our own ofrenda, which Rose Alcantara lovingly assembles every year. Among the new features, a companion for my Grandfather Ed Reuter who enjoys a lunchtime beer in the black-and-white photo.

Here’s a photo that I took last week of our own parroquia, San Antonio de Padua, which is decorated with beds of marigolds as well:

Soon, all these spaces and places will be filled with delightfully costumed characters for Halloween, a growingly popular tradition here in San Miguel, and then on Nov. 1 and 2, hundreds of Catrinas and Catrines who come out to parade for Dias de Muertos.

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