Dia de los Muertos

Halloween is almost upon us and in America that means it's time for scary movies and trick or treating! Sometimes though we forget that other cultures celebrate this time of year in entirely different ways. Take the Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. It is a celebration of life, a festival during which families decorate the graves of lost loved ones in remembrance and create colorful "altars" with photos and favorite foods of the deceased. At night, the line between the worlds of the living and of the dead blur and allow the ancestor's souls a short visit to their families. The ultimate symbol of blending these two worlds is in the festive costumes depicting skeletons engaging in everyday activities. I found a perfect FREEBIE outfit for my Dia de los Muertos celebration at BOTANICA by completing their maze hunt. Explore the maze, collect all the luminaries, and trade them in for your choice of prize, including the male or female Day of the Dead costumes, complete with skull facial tattoos. They're colorful, perfect for the season, completely FREE, and fun to pick up! No group space needed! Just grab a friend and head to BOTANICA!-----WHC Riler

My friends are wearing - Botanica - The Dia de los Muertos Costumes (FREE GIFT FOR COMPLETING THE MAZE HUNT)

This Scavenging Life - Home

Slipping Into Fall.

The weather is changing now in my area of the world. The days become shorter and cooler. It is quite a sight to see, the leaves changing. Soon, it will be time to go up into the mountains and look out over the breathtaking sight of the trees draped in their autumn colors. Of course when you do, here is a little tip from someone who is in awe of such grandeur. STAY IN THE CAR! It's cold out there and utterly miserable. There is no reason at all to leave the comfort of your fossil fuel burning bubble. That's why man invented the window. What I really look forward to more than the turning of the leaves is the change of the monthly LAVAROCK group gift. Once again, it does not disappoint. This time around, they are offering the lito male jacket-2, a beautiful, dark brown, MESH leather jacket. As usual with a LAVAROCK FREE GROUP GIFT, the textures look so soft that they tempt you to touch them. The styling, like all my favorite Second Life clothing, looks like a piece I would own in real life. They have come up with a another gift that became my new favorite jacket the instant I put it on, and the most amazing part is that it's FREE! There is also a monthly gift for women at the store and it is this same jacket in black leather, with a few subtle differences. One difference is the tiny pentagrams on the two lapel buttons, just another small detail on a wonderfully detailed jacket.  Also worth noting is the hair I am wearing. It is the FREE Welcome Gift "MINATO" [male/unisex] from ARGRACE. It comes in a fatpack of 40 colors and is resizeable. This hair was also shown in black on an uncredited Riot Bayn in a previous post entitled "A Low Rumbling Whisper In The Darkness". Given the difficulty in finding freebie/cheapie male hair, it is a definite pick up if you haven't been there already. Also as a bonus for female avies picking up the welcome pack, there is another female hair in it as well. Time to get in the car and do some sightseeing: the leaves are beginning to turn and it really is something to see. Stay warm.-----WHC Riler

WHC Riler is wearing - Lavarock - the Lito Male Jacket_2 (FREE GIFT/ FREE GROUP)

Argrace - FREE Welcome Gift "MINATO" [male/unisex]

Celise is wearing - Lavarock - Lita Jacket Black Leather & Suede (FREE GIFT/ FREE GROUP)

This Scavenging Life - Home

'Cause Every Little Thing's Gonna Be Alright.

It's already mid-August and I have not made it to the beach this year but Riot and Celise were kind enough to send me a few photos from their last trip as a consolation. The Dog Days Of Summer Hunt gift from HC PREMIUM CREATIONS is something that deserves some special attention. The HCC SeaStar~Be My Summer Love item is a low land impact mesh starfish with 4 texture options. It has an extensive menu of cuddles (both standing and sitting), along with some singles poses as well. Amazingly, it has 190 animations total in it, which is extremely generous, a fabulous bargain for a 1L hunt prize! The MESH shirt Riot is wearing is a prize from my favorite hunt of the month: The Blues hunt from Depraved Nation. The Blues - Tshirt hunt prize from DUCKNIPPLE can be worn in blue, black, red, green or beige using the texture change hud . The texturing is amazing and it comes in regular and wide waist so you can wear it over mesh pants if you wish. It has the look of a favorite soft cotton tee, one that perhaps has been on many adventures with you over the years. I love shirts like this, they just look wonderfully comfortable. The Blues hunt is not a free hunt. It is 5L, but this shirt is really worth picking up. Celise wanted me to point out the MESH bikini she is wearing as well. It is the Barbara Bikini from JAZZITUDE and comes with a texture change hud. In the pictures, she is wearing two different versions, the striped and the flowered. The hud also includes a plain and a polka dot version. This is a thank you gift for members of the Telecom Hub group (FREE GROUP GIFT), and if that's not enough, next to that gift in the store is JAZZITUDE'S own FREE GROUP GIFT, which is the same Barbara Bikini in another four pink textures. In total, it is a great, realistic rigged Mesh bikini in eight textures for FREE. I still missed the beach trip but at least I have these pictures pinned up on my cork board to remind me of my blissful summer beach trips from past years. Now where are my darts?-----WHC Riler

The HCC SeaStar~Be My Summer Love cuddle starfish is available at HC PREMIUM CREATIONS (1L). The Dog Days Of Summer Hunt ends August 31st

Riot Bayn is wearing - The Blues - Tshirt hunt prize from DUCKNIPPLE (5L). The Blues hunt ends August 31st

Celise is wearing - the Barbara Bikini from JAZZITUDE, a FREE GROUP GIFT in black. (Telecom Hub Group/Free Group)  The Barbara Bikini in pink is also JAZZITUDE'S FREE GROUP GIFT. (Free Group)