Instructions: El D(acu)a de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is bursting with life.

The holiday is marked with flowers, sweets, special foods and, in some Latin countries, fireworks and marimba music. Although the Day of the Dead falls on Nov. 2, the three-day celebration begins today.

Why is a holiday about death so lively? The answer goes back more than 3,000 years, when Aztecs saved skulls of the dead to honor them in rituals at the end of October. Believing death was simply a part of life and nothing to fear, the Aztecs would mock death, even laugh at it.

Today, in a modern extension of those rituals, children make sugar skulls, or calaveras de alfenique. The skulls sometimes become ofrendas, or offerings, on altars for loved ones who have died. Photographs, flowers, votive candles, pan de muertos (bread of the dead) and favorite foods and drinks of the person being honored also may be placed on the altar, with personal belongings.

In Guatemala, as in some other Central and South American countries, people often picnic in the graveyards. Bands entertain visitors later in the evening, and the night is capped with fireworks.

The South Bay has a variety of Day of the Dead festivities planned, including Events begin at 3:30 p.m. at the Mayfair Center and include a procession through the neighborhood to the plaza, altar exhibits by students and a chance for children to make sugar skulls. For more information, call the plaza at (408)

In general, the colder wrapped candy is kept, the longer it will keep.

Refrigerated candy stays fresh for several months. Frozen candy will stay fresh indefinitely. When thawing, remove frozen candy from wrapper and re-wrap in plastic wrap before thawing to prevent candy from developing any taste or odors picked up by the wrapper.

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