Farewell dear Naomi ...

My friend Naomi has left us, she died on July 30, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Naomi Caryl Hirshhorn was 91 years old, born on June 27, 1931. I'm very sad but I'd like this post not to be somber, but to celebrate her life.

Along the years I wrote several posts about my friend Naomi - you can click on "Naomi" on the right side of my blog and see them. I explained her childhood, family, career, art and more. I visited her childhood home in Great Neck, Long Island, New York and also her home in Los Angeles in the Hollywood Hills. There are several photos of them in my previous posts. Naomi was a very special person, talented, creative, generous, fun and lovable. (Click on collage to enlarge.)

Naomi accomplished a great deal during her long life. She was a composer and lyricist and sang on Broadway when she was young. She made records and she and her music were featured in a CBS television "special" and were nominated for an Emmy. Her talent covered many areas in art, music and entertainment.

She appeared as an actress and singer on several television shows. She was also an artist, working in acrylic and pastel. Her art was exhibited in several large cities in the country. She told me she had made about 2000 drawings and 850 paintings - see example below.

A famous artist friend of hers, Morris Broderson (1928-2011) even painted a standing portrait of her.

For about ten years she had a blog where she would show photos of her succulent garden, her parties and more. Her posts were always interesting, informative and fun. She had a free spirit.

Unfortunately when she was young she suffered a terrible illness of the lungs - bronchiectasis. With the years it worsened and she had to stay indoors most of the time. But even in her confinement she enjoyed nature around her. Her house was on the Hollywood Hill, hanging out cantilever style. From her balcony she could see the city below, with an incredible view that would not quit, seeing all the way to the sea on a clear day.

She delighted in watching the birds flying to her outdoor balcony as well as the many wild animals walking in the hills below her house.

Naomi was knowledgeable in all aspects of show business. She saw many new films at home on DVD's because of her affiliation with the Screen Actors Guild (and was on the Film Nominating Committee.) On her blog she would give good critiques of the films. Along her long career she had met many well known actors, such as Paul Newman, and would share anecdotes on them. She never married but had a large circle of friends. For years she doted on her beautiful white cat "Sweetie." I did pet him, and his fur was the softest ever.

Naomi was very social and many friends and family came to her home for luncheons and parties. She would set up an attractive table with delicate china and her favorite blue crystal goblets.

Loving nature, Naomi was fond of gardens but when she no longer could visit them she would surround herself with stunning flower arrangements.

With the passing of years many of her old friends started falling ill or died. It caused her much grief. Her health deteriorated as well and she could no long type on her computer or move easily. Watching the formation of the clouds from her balcony and the colors of the sun was still a joy. She always had a great sense of humor and a sharp mind, but alas, an uncooperative body.

In 2020 I was supposed to fly to California to visit my San Francisco friend George then go down to Los Angeles to visit Naomi - COVID in the US cancelled all my plans (and George died last year.) On her telephone, Naomi would not "speak" a call back message, she would sing it "Speak to me ...and I will listen to you ..." I shall miss our long telephone conversations; now I'll cherish their memories. Rest well, my dear Naomi.

"The song is ended, but the melody lingers on..." - Irving Berlin (American composer, 1888-1989.)

A stay in Bangor, Maine

In mid-November I was back in Greater Atlanta, Georgia. I intended to take pictures in a park nearby for a fall blog post. Time went by too quickly and instead I just took a couple of photos of the leaves in the backyard.

In lieu of this fall blog post I'll relate my summer stay in Bangor, Maine. In early June my daughter asked me if I would like to drive with her, my son-in-law and the kids to Bangor, Maine. I replied, no thank you - it is too far. I had only planned to drive the two hours north to Paducah, Kentucky. Nashville, Tennessee to Bangor, Maine is about 1,330 miles (2,140 km) about the same distance as Brussels, Belgium to Budapest, Hungary - it's quite far as I said.

She explained that three of the four grandchildren were going to attend several weeks of Chinese language immersion summer school in Bangor. She only could stay with them part of the time but then had to get back. As an enticement she offered to have me fly there and then she would come back when the Chinese school ended. She said we could drive down the coast of Maine and on the way stop a day in Kennebunkport, Maine, then New Hampshire and also in Newport, Rhode Island where I had always wished to go, and then stay in Boston a couple of days and I could fly back from Boston. So I went. Because Bangor is close to Acadia National Park summer lodgings are difficult to find. My daughter could only find a small farm to rent. The owners lived in another house adjacent to the original farm. The owners, the wife, drove a Prius, a Toyota hybrid (instead of one of those big SUV vehicles) and the husband, a pick-up truck. Actually, compared to Nashville and Atlanta, there were a lot less SUVs in Maine (where winters are rigorous and they could say they need them, not like in Deep South downtowns ... but in Maine they are more mindful of the environment.)

The farm was built in 1900. Chickens were free to roam and would come to the front door. They would run to greet us as soon as we drove into the farm. Horses were in the back near a wildlife trail. (Click on collage to enlarge.)

I took some photos of the interior but found some better ones on the owners' site (theirs were taken in winter.) The farm has 3 bedrooms, a large bathroom, a kitchen with eating area and two front rooms with a piano. I stayed in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

My daughter and her family drove to Maine a week prior to the start of the Chinese summer school so they could visit the area and Acadia National Park. This park is about 41 miles from Bangor. It is located on Mount Desert Island and Isle au Haut. The highest mountain on the Atlantic Coast of the US, Cadillac Mountain, is in this park.

In its 49,075 acres (76.7 sq mi or 198.6 km2) the park contains wetlands, forests, meadows, mountains, lakes, streams, beaches and a large diversity of animal and plant life. Millions of visitors come to the park and I believe reservations are required now to enter it, at least in the summer months, because of the congestion. In 1929 the name of the park was changed from Marquis de Lafayette Park to Acadia National Park in honor of the former French colony of Acadia that used to include Maine. The center photo is of my son-in-law - he had to fly back to Nashville after a week in Maine.

My daughter flew back to Nashville after her 3 weeks and left the big van in Bangor. They use this large van to transport the 4 kids, 3 adults (including the au pair) and two dogs (no SUVs for member of my family.) For commuting to work they just have two small passenger vehicles. But the van is quite high and long - I was afraid to drive it. Fortunately the au pair stayed during my time there and he drove. He is an Italian of Moroccan ancestry and his family lives in France now, so he speaks Italian, Moroccan Arabic, French and English. We ate most evenings in local restaurants and pubs, apart from the day the Italian soccer team won the European Soccer Championship, its first time since 1968. Our au pair was so overjoyed that he treated us to a pizza dinner. That week was also my youngest grandson's 10 years old birthday. He requested a chocolate cream pie. I found a bakery in Bangor that was able to bake one especially for him. Below is the van, the bakery, the pie, the au pair with the Italian flag wrapped around his shoulders and my grandchildren. The grandson in the center is letting his hair grow to donate to a group helping young cancer patients who lost their hair.

The first Sunday after I arrived I was pleased to meet one of my blogging friends for lunch in Bangor. I had been reading her blog for years until she eventually stopped blogging. Ruth's original blog was named "synch-ro-ni-zing" and her last blog, ended in 2017, was called Birds of the Air quilts where she showed the quilts she made. Ruth and her husband retired and moved to a small coastal town in Maine, not far from Bangor. It was so much fun meeting her after having read her blogs for over a decade. We met at the Mason Brewing Co. Restaurant along the Penobscot River. We ate outdoors as it was a warm day and also because of Covid.

I was surprised by the long list of beers and ciders. Ruth told me that there are a great many pubs and restaurants in the area featuring local artisanal beers and ciders. Later I read that behind Vermont, Maine has the second highest number of breweries per 100,000 residents in the USA. The 100 or so local breweries produce New England IPAs, English ales, stouts, porters, sours, Belgian, farmhouse, lagers and more. They have the largest variety of hard cider that I have seen outside of France and Belgium. Most restaurants and pubs will offer "sample beers" of your choice in 4 small glasses. I did not try them since I am more partial to cider.

I remember writing Ruth and telling her I was going to stay in a small town in Maine - Bangor. She answered that Bangor was one of the largest cities in Maine, and with 32,000 residents is considered the unofficial capital of northern Maine. Well, when you consider that the population of the state of Maine is 1.34 million, Bangor is ... large. But coming from greater Atlanta with 6.09 million and the state of Georgia with 10.83 million, I thought Bangor was tiny ... oops! The weather was nice though, not as warm as in Atlanta. We did not have to use air conditioning and I was chilly a couple of times. Of course, in winter it must be quite cold - much too cold for me. Here are a couple of photos of the city in winter (courtesy the Bangor Daily News.)

Definitely a city to visit in summer, in July like I did. At least for us southerners ...

Cooking for the Holidays

After voting on December 17th, 2020, during the early voting days of the Georgia Senate runoff election, I felt I needed a reward to have driven back again to Georgia from Nashville to vote. I stopped at the local nursery and bought a pretty Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera.)

Back in the lonely Georgia house I placed the plant near the kitchen window close to a holiday gnome. It made a lot of difference to the atmosphere in the kitchen. My cat Mitsouko was in Nashville but there was still something alive with me as well. You can see the picture in the heading. In Nashville I had left another flowering Christmas cactus in the enclosed back porch, next to another little gnome.

I sorted and gave away another 5 bags of books to the Goodwill, at least 200 or so, and then I returned to Nashville on Sunday December 20th. There was no hurry because I knew that as for Thanksgiving I would be alone at Christmas. For years these were such busy times and now having no planning to do was a bit strange. So as not to feel aimless at Thanksgiving I had decided to cook some turkey and trimmings. With the help of my blogging friend Mae of Mae's Food Blog who provided me with a recipe for fresh turkey parts I proceeded to cook a tasty Thanksgiving meal with plenty of leftovers. In the plate below from top left: herbed bread dressing, corn casserole, roast turkey with fresh cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with Bourbon pecan sauce, fresh spinach with Boursin cheese next to garlicky mashed potatoes with homemade gravy. I had received a surprise package from my daughter Celine - imported mince pies from Wales. It rounded the meal quite nicely. (I had leftovers for a week.) (Click on collage to enlarge.)

When I returned to Nashville I decided that to keep busy for Christmas I would also cook a special meal. First I had to attempt decorating the front of the house as most houses on the block had bright decorations and lights. Last year my daughter Jessica had decorated the house with many strings of light on the shrubbery, but I was not very good at this. Instead I used lights just on the handrail and decorated the front door and windows. Below is the way the house was decorated last year.

Below is the way I tried to decorate it this year. I was afraid to place lights on the shrubbery since I was not sure how to connect all the wires.

Now I had to plan what my Christmas meal would be. Years ago my mother would make a delicious canard a l'orange - maybe I should try roasted duck with orange sauce as she did. In Atlanta I would have known to buy a duck at the DeKalb Farmers' Market, but in Nashville I did not know where to get one. I called the grocery stores Kroger, Publix - no ducks. Whole Foods did not sell fresh or frozen ducks. Then I thought of the huge market not far away, K and S World Market and International Groceries. I always find fresh dandelion greens there and a whole lot of vegetables, fruits and other items I have no idea how to cook.

I was there early on Tuesday morning with just a handful of customers. They had frozen ducks, four types even! I decided on the Buddhist style duck. Because why not. It had Chinese writing and I think Vietnamese as well. At $19.99 for a 6 pound duck it seemed a fair price.

Now I was in a quandary. Should I attempt roasting a Buddhist duck with a French gourmet recipe? Or should I try an Asian recipe? What a dilemma. I decided to compromise and roast it with Asian spices and then make an orange French sauce. I checked some of my favorite French cookbooks and some of my Chinese ones while listening to Christmas music. Finally after also researching on the Web I came up with an original Franco-Asian recipe for my duck.

First the duck had to be defrozen; it would take two days in the fridge. I baked a couple of cookie recipes with my free time.

On Thursday afternoon, Christmas Eve, the duck was defrozen. I boiled it for 1 minute in a large pot of boiling water. Then I pricked it all over (to let the fat get out.) When it was cool I sprinkled salt all over it. Then I set it back in the fridge, uncovered, until the next day - this is to harden the skin so it will be crispy. That evening my daughter, son-in-law, four grandchildren and my son-in-law's visiting cousins and their children came caroling to my front porch. Then I gave them cookies and they gave me a small rum cake. This is why I could not attend their Christmas, as the gathering was too large.

There was no need to wrap gifts to wee hours as I used to since we were not exchanging presents on Christmas Day. (We will exchange presents in January, closer to Armenian Christmas of January 6th.) I had not planned to get up early on Christmas Day but was wakened up at 6:30 am by some noise. I thought it was a car backfiring. While getting my coffee ready I could hear many birds chirping in the back yard. Quite unusual as there are never more than a couple of birds there and this sounded like an aviary. I opened the curtains and could not believe my eyes. The tree at the end of my yard was covered with birds - so many that the branches could not be seen. Then as I watched, mesmerized, they suddenly flew to a closer tree while chatting, whistling and making a joyful noise. I had seen bands of starlings before flying as a pulsating cloud but at a distance, in the sky. As from a signal they all flew even closer and landed on my back deck, covering it. The wood disappeared and the deck looked alive with hundreds or even thousands of birds. As some perched on the rail close to my window I could see that they were not black, but had a metallic iridescent dark greenish sheen flecked with little white dots - quite pretty.

The European starlings were introduced in the US in 1890 when 100 of them were released in New York's Central Park (now there are more than 200 million in N. America.) The common European starling from the species Sturnus vulgaris is called "Etourneau" in French. When they fly in unison it is called "une nuée d’étourneaux" but in English it is called "a murmuration." It sounds French but it is not. A murmuration is the phenomenon that results when hundreds, sometimes thousands, of starlings fly in swooping, coordinated patterns through the sky, as in an air show. It is impressive how rapidly the murmuration can change direction and fly intricate patterns, all synchronized. Then in an instant the flock left my deck, as in a well choreographed ballet, and flew to trees further away. Below are a couple of ancient engravings of the birds.

I had never seen them so close and felt it was an early Christmas gift - that it would be a good day. Then I turned on the News ... and saw that what I thought had been a car backfiring at 6:30 am was in fact a huge explosion downtown Nashville, about 3 1/2 miles from my house. The explosion destroyed part of Second Avenue, known for its night clubs, galleries, shops and residences; at least 41 buildings were extensively damaged. In the map below I placed a red cross where it happened and a green cross where I live. (Pictures courtesy The Tennessean.)

The Second Avenue of Nashville is a National Historic District. In the late 1800s the street was called Market Street. From 1870 to 1890 many buildings were constructed as warehouses and shops that sold the goods coming from riverboats on the Cumberland River. This is a tragic bombing on Christmas Day. The police have identified the bomber who perished in the blast, but found no motive yet.

I kept working on my duck, covering it with a dry rub made of Chinese spices, and then placing an orange, celery and garlic in the cavity. (Having no ties to close it I had to improvise with metal clips.) While it roasted I made a Sherry Orange reduction sauce (made with Sherry, garlic, orange juice, bitter orange marmelade, Grand Marnier and spices.) It did not take long to roast really as I placed it in the oven around 4:00 pm, turned it over a couple of times and I was ready to eat at about 7:00 pm. It was delicious. That will last me at least 4 days with leftovers. (I rarely eat meat - did not have a steak since summer 2019 and only 3 hamburgers this year.) I found out that the Culver Duck Company was founded in 1860 in the Amish Country of Northern Indiana. The ducks are all natural with no hormones, no nitrates, and are Free to Roam. The company has received certification under the American Humane Certified program.

To keep with the Franco-Asian theme, dessert was a French buche de Noel, and a Fortune cookie. My fortune said "Your golden opportunity is coming shortly." Splendid! Things are looking up ... hope it will be the same for everyone.

Have a Happy New Year! Wishing you a better 2021!

My friend Naomi Caryl - part 2

In the first part of my post I shared that Naomi's family had a working farm in the Pennsylvania hills built in the 1930s and called Huckleberry Hill Farm; they spent happy times there.  Naomi's father Joseph H. Hirshhorn was a shrewd investor and by August 1929 feeling very uneasy about the stock market he sold all his shares for several millions.  The Wall Street Crash started a month later in September 1929 in what was to be The Great Depression.  The family had another holiday house in Miami Beach, Florida.  Miami Beach had started to become a vacation spot for the wealthy - the era when its Art Deco district was developed.  Naomi recalled how her father, Daddy Joe, would love to spend time at the Everglades Cabana Club while Naomi would stay at the swimming pool there.  Below vintages postcards of the Everglades Cabana Club swimming pool.  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

The pool was next door to the Roney Plaza Hotel.  Opened in 1925, it was the first grand beachfront resort of Miami Beach and attracted a cosmopolitan crowd from Hollywood stars to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.  It was the "in" place to be, be seen and have fun (it was demolished in 1968.)  Below vintage postcards showing the atmosphere then.

The Hirshhorn's family's house was located on North Bay road, looking out onto Biscayne Bay.  They would spend the winter months there where Naomi and her siblings would attend school.

Following my research instinct I looked for the house and, eureka, I found it.  It is on the market as a "rental" with 4,467 sq ft, 7 bedrooms, 5 baths, a pool and private deck with bay waterfront and views of downtown.  Right now it is listed with a seasonal monthly rate of $45,000 and a $18,000 security deposit.  Anyone interested in renting it?  It is owned by the founder and CEO of Green Plant a large Florida juice processing plant (4 million bottles of juice per month.)  Here are photos offered on the rental site.

Unfortunately Naomi's parents separated and the family did not go back to Huckleberry Hill Farm or the Miami Beach home.  They divorced several years later and the properties were sold.  The farm was sold to the Kress family, owners of the S. H. Kress & Co., variety stores.  Naomi and her siblings stayed with their mom in the Great Neck home on Long Island Shore, NY.  This is where she attended school.  Later on she studied acting, music and singing.  She had an outstanding voice and made several records.  She also sang in night clubs for a while but did not like the atmosphere.

 Naomi was an "apprentice" in Summer Stock at the Sea Cliff Theatre in Sea Cliff New York.  As an actress her first paying job was in the Sea Cliff original production of "A Streetcar named Desire" by Tennessee Williams.  She was casted as Eunice Hubbell (the woman upstairs.)  Her father was very proud that she participated in the creation and performance of Spoon River Anthology, a play based on Edgar Lee Masters' book.  Naomi performed in the play, sang, played the guitar and violin and wrote the music for 4 original songs.  This production had a 5-month run on Broadway.  In the photo below Naomi as Eunice Hubbell in the horizontal pictures and in Spoon River in the vertical pictures.

From the first lived shows in New York City that she attended as a 4 years old wee child, Naomi has loved the theatre and taken part in many different roles and tasks such as directing, producing, box office, ushering, dresser to a star, intermission piano music between scenes, off stage sound producing, and more.  In addition to playing the violin and piano she also plays the viola and the ukulele.  She wrote plays (she wrote her first play at 7 years old,) was a composer and lyricist, has appeared on television as an actress and singer, nominated for an Emmy, and is a talented painter with one woman show in several cities.  Naomi is very gifted in the arts: she has painted 850 pieces, mostly in acrylic and has drawn up to 2000 drawings.  She is listed as a notable artist by Marquis Who's Who.  One of her paintings is shown in my heading.  Her first job in films was as a Paramount Film extra for a picture on location with Bing Crosby and Nancy Olson called "Mr. Music."

Naomi moved to Los Angeles in early 1961 and has been there ever since.  She joined Theatre West, a young professional actor workshop in Hollywood, when it was established in 1962.  Years later Naomi made a two hour documentary at Theatre West for Spoon River Anthology twentieth anniversary.  Some of Naomi's early fellow members at Theatre West included Betty Garrett (who became a long time close friend) Richard Dreyfuss, Jack Nicholson, Lee Meriwether, Martin Landau, Beau Bridges and later Jeff Bridges (who played piano duos with Naomi,) Gavin McLeod and Carroll O'Connor.  You can read more about Theatre West here.  (photos courtesy Theatre West.)

Naomi had and still has many friends in show business, such as Ed Asner and the late Valery Harper.  Naomi made several guest appearances in television series, in Ed Asner's Police Story and Lou Grant, in Cloris Leachman's Plyllis show and in a Mary Tyler Moore episode with actor Gavin McLeod, a good friend who is a global ambassador for the Princess Cruise Line and who played on The Love Boat.  Naomi also had guest appearances in The White Shadow, The Jeffersons, Barnaby Jones and Police Woman.  Below, top left, are front left to right Valerie Harper, Ed Asner, Cloris Leachman and below Gavin McLeod, Mary Tyler Moore and Ted Knight.

Once she was invited for a special book signing for a book of poems by Maya Angelou (1928-2014) the famous American poet.  Maya talked to her and autographed the beautifully illustrated over sized book with a very limited edition.  Naomi is an avid reader and has books in many rooms of her home with one room devoted to her favorite books.  In the photo below you can see several ceramic pieces from Picasso.  Naomi purchased them in France.

Her father, Joseph H. Hirshhorn, had a house in Cap d'Antibes on the French Riviera where he spent his summers.  Once he sent Naomi a first class ticket and invited her to join him and his fourth wife for several weeks holiday.  There her father would meet artists, art dealers and other people and purchase art for his collection.  Several times her father took her to lunch and for a swim at the legendary Hotel du Cap.  It was built in 1870 for the owner of the French newspaper Le Figaro, Hippolyte de Villemessant.  At first a luxury boarding house for writers in search of peace and relaxation it welcomed Jules Vernes and Anatole France.  In 1889 it became a hotel and later still welcomed writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and others of "The Lost Generation".  It was a winter escape for the wealthy - at its restaurant Rita Hayworth met Prince Ali Khan and married him later.  Also guests were the Kennedy family in 1938 when JFK was 21 years old.  Marlene Dietrich, Orson Wells, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and so many other personalities stayed there.  At one of her lunches at the hotel with her dad he introduced her to Marc Chagall the painter.  The Kirk Douglas' also lived in a cabana on the hotel property.  The hotel celebrated its 150th anniversary this year and is still a world-class favorite amongst artists, writers, etc.  Below are several photos, courtesy Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in 1936 next to Marlene Dietrich in 1950.  (Be sure to click on collage to see better.)

Naomi's father knew Picasso well as he had purchased several of his work.  Olga Hirshhorn, Naomi step mom, called Picasso's second wife Jacqueline, to tell her that Naomi was visiting from America.  Jacqueline invited Naomi's parents and her to visit Picasso in his studio adjacent to Le Mas Candille, their house in the historical town of Mougins.  Picasso had first seen this house in 1961 and fell in love with it.  He purchased it immediately from Loel Guinness, the son of the original owner Benjamin Symour Guinness of the famous family.  Winston Churchill, an amateur artist, visited the Guinness often and painted scenes of the area.  Picasso who liked attractive ladies was taken with Naomi.  The following day Naomi and her parents were invited by Picasso to come to the Galerie Madoura in Vallauris, France, to attend the opening of an exhibit of Picasso's new ceramics.  There Naomi purchased the limited edition pitcher and plaques that are shown in the collage above.  Picasso was in attendance at the opening.  In photos below Naomi is with Picasso and on the right is her father, Daddy Joe, with Picasso, then Picasso's house in Mougins and a panorama of Mougins.

Another time Naomi's dad invited her to spend several days in his house in La Quinta, California, and they had lunch at the home of novelist Truman Capote (1924-1984) who lived in nearby Palm Springs.  But Naomi kept having recurring bouts of pneumonia, often several times in a year.  As a child her pneumonia was misdiagnosed and her lungs were badly damaged.  She has no cilia, the little hair that cleanses the lungs.  Because of her illness, called bronchiectasis, she had frequent unusual respiratory bacterial infections until it happened so often that she was confined to her home and has been there for years now.  She has been involved with several charitable causes for decades, including co-chair of the AIDS fund raiser.  She created a cactus garden in 1986 and in 1989 was the recipient of the Los Angeles Beautiful award Cactus Garden.  She has been awarded many accolades such as the Crystal Apple award Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome project in 1991, the Spirit of Hope award in 1999.  She started her blog Here in the Hills in 2005 and published her posts until 2015.  There she shared her show business remembrances and her beautiful photos of birds, succulent, flowers and the view from her balcony.  Here are several below.

Naomi is a member of the American Society of Composers, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Dramatic Guild, Theatre West and a member of the Screen Actors Guild.  She is a voting member for the Emmy of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She has a thorough knowledge of telesion shows, theatre plays and movies.  Her blogging friends enjoyed all her insights about the films and actors for the Oscars as well as her perceptive reviews of the Emmys.  We are missing all this now.

Naomi never married and always had numerous friends, mostly in show business, who adored her.  But with the passing of years members of her family and close friends have died.  It has been painful and difficult for Naomi who loved company and having fun such as with her convivial "Ladies who Lunch."   Through her posts we would witness her elegant place settings, the lovely flower arrangements and all the cheerfulness.

 But after ten years of blogging Naomi told me that it been time to stop - she was out of fresh ideas for posts and the arthritis in her hands prevented her from typing on the keyboard.  In addition her vision was poor.  She has not used her computer in several years and has forgotten her password.  She regrets to be unable to chat online with her blogging friends and asked me to tell everyone that she is sending virtual hugs.  I read the messages you left for her on my previous post and she was delighted to hear them and thank you.  Her health issues are difficult to bear but she is as fun as ever with her quick wit and warm personality.  She is an intelligent, kind and generous lady and I wish she felt better.  In addition she told me she is quite saddened by the way the country is mismanaged.  She does not recognize her country with its current inept, mean and racist government with so many of Trump's officials being indicted and found guilty.  As for me, I hope the Post Office won't be completely sabotaged so we can vote to stop this spiraling downward.  If you wish to send Naomi a message, please write it in the comments section and I'll convey it to her.  She asked me to make sure to tell everyone that she was grateful for her blogging friends' friendship all these years; it has meant a lot to her.  Below is the flower arrangement I had her favorite Hollywood florist send her for her birthday last June.