Dear Pearl,

The strangest thing, Pearl!  As Louise and I were filing away the holiday decorations I found the card with the photograph of us the year we spent Christmas on The Riviera!  How happy we were!  How beautifully you wore those sailor pants and that fabulous red silk halter top.  So many heads turned to look at you I felt as though I was walking with a movie star.  And the dinner invitations!  The flower arrangements left at the door to our suite!  Beautiful you, Pearl, beautiful you.

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue.

Dear Miss Blue,
Not even on Halloween, when Witches and Clowns and Ghosts run about the streets and the sky, almost dark, makes a scary night in late October, have I seen such a sight! Frankly, Miss Blue, it would be a treat to see the Yule Queen stepping daintily in her elegant costume festooned with ornaments and sweet smelling green branches. Melba the Yule Queen has such a romantic feeling.  She is sure to win her prince one of these days!  

Of course, Fanny's interest in drawing ship interiors is rather unusual; on the other hand Industrial Design is offered in all of the best art schools here and abroad.  Fanny would be overjoyed to be an Industrial Design student. Now I will send all my love to you, Miss Blue and hope to see you soon here in my neighborhood.

Love to Fanny and Melba, Pearl 

Dear Pearl,

Christmas was pleasant with all of us gathered together, Pearl.  But Melba's insistence on spending the day attired as the Yule Queen was a bit tiresome and completely ruined the beautiful tree in the entrance by the time Melba had 'borrowed' a few of its branches and ornaments. . .Fanny is so impressionable!  I worry that she will want to become an actress, too, and then what will happen to all her precocious drawings of ship interiors?  Please include in your prayers, Pearl, in a pleasant - not bossy or insistent - tone, the request that Fanny follow her true gifts and avoid the allure of Melba's overwrought Tinseltown fantasies!

I Remain, as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue, 

Well there is something about red wine, never ever white wine, that helps Mordechai resolve his fearsome dreams. Red wine is a brave wine, Miss Blue. That is what I have discovered through my own wine drinking days.  I would always order red wine when visiting with friends out about town. Sitting around the table toasting one another and talking about our dreams and how much we all loved the red wine. There is a very nice liquor store in my neighborhood and every once in a while I stop by to ask the young men who work there to point out their best red wine.  They are delighted that I drink red wine and offer me a little sip in a small glass cup. I keep a bottle in my cupboard just in case friends drop by. I do believe that Mordechai drinks his wine after his dream, Miss Blue, to help him go back to sleep and I am sure that in the morning he is happily rested and ready to celebrate the day. I do hope Linquini and Mordechai will become friends, Miss Blue. It is always nice to have something in common.

When next we are together, Miss Blue, we will share a lovely glass of red wine and toast to each other the best of wishes.

Love from your Pearl

 

Dear Pearl,

Linguini's dreams are of the more lyrical variety, Pearl.  His tigers dance with soft edged beauties in rooms filled with tropical plants and Mediterranean breezes.  The horror of Mordechai's dreams is worrisome!  Are you quite sure he is religiously tippling that wine AFTER dreaming or before?  I would investigate, Pearl, so that you are never in the awkward position of seeming to support with friendship a degenerate's dark habit. . .

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

Your letter reached me yesterday and I immediately showed it to my friend Mordechai.  Mordechai dreams all the time he tells me. Why, even when he takes a little nap he has dreams! His expression as he says this is weary and sad for the dreams are frightening - often about flying tigers and tiny ants that leap and dance around as if they are on a stage!  Mordechai is very pious and often takes a sip of red wine when the dream wakes him up (he keeps the wine in a beautiful glass decanter on a small table by his bed). Mordechai would be happy to share his wine with Linquini whenever they meet! That's what friends are for, of course.

I must hurry now for the postman will be coming by to pick up the mail and I'm hoping that you will have it in your mailbox this very day.

Love, Pearl

Dear Pearl,

Linguini has been troubled by strange dreams lately, Pearl.  He is a black bird with long feet who flies over high seas looking for . . . . Well, that is just it, Pearl.  What IS he seeking?  Back and forth over turbulent water he goes, the sea foam soaking him, the waves pounding like thunder all around him.  He wakes exhausted.  His work suffers.  He serves from the wrong side, pours from all angles, snaps at Louise, forgets to bring the mail in on the silver tray.  In your long experience running a household, Dear, have you ever encountered similar difficulties?  What advice would you offer me?  I will be in your debt for any tidbit of wisdom you might throw my way!

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

I must say Miss Blue, there is nothing so tasty as a beef tongue and thinly sliced onion sandwich. Why, we would wait for the bell to ring so that we could race home to make ourselves the beef tongue sandwich. In school, we took turns slicing the lovely white onion. It made our eyes water even though we let the cold water run from the faucet there in the sink just as we were told in our cooking class.  Our teachers warned us about everything - dangerous cutting knives, onions that made our eyes water and sting. They reminded us that they were Home Economic majors and knew many things about cooking and recipes and slicing and paring and cutting. The beef tongue was slippery and fragile and we didn't like that part of our task but at last we sat down and had our after school treat. When we told our classmates about our sandwiches they said they would ask their mothers to buy the beef tongue and onion the very next day! Christmas brings out the most kind and giving 

feelings, Miss Blue. I am sure Fanny and Scout making the beef tongue and onion sandwiches and offering them to the hungry men standing in line outside the church is what Christmas is all about.

The Nunnery has always attracted the kindest hearts.  I'm sure Frieda found the love that she needed and that she was appreciated by those she helped through the years.  

Well, dear Miss Blue, I will send this letter off to you. I will miss you so much this Christmas and will think of you as I open the beautifully wrapped gifts under the Christmas Tree.

Love in two-part harmony, Pearl

Dear Pearl,

I can't say whether Melba will send the old photo to Thelda or not, Pearl.  It was a lovely suggestion on your part, but Melba has been known to hold a grudge for decades.  She is still not talking to the third grade classmate who cut fringe into her oil cloth.  I think her name was Frieda something or other. At the time, my sympathies were more with Frieda - she was a delicate, sensitive, child who absolutely worshipped Melba and who only cut the fringe because she believed it improved the aggressively mundane oil cloth underlying Melba's papier mache project. Melba was an awful sport about the episode and never spoke to Frieda again.  Frieda was quite morose about Melba's cruel rejection until she found religion in her teens and joined a nunnery.  

You are so right about the beauty of the season. Not only the beautiful lights, but the whole spirit of giving that comes upon us. Why, Louise is having Fanny and Scout make holiday sandwiches for the men lined up outside Our Lady of Perpetual Virtue.  Today it is beef tongue and onions.  What charity!

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue

How sad for Melba that Thelda ran off with the robber baron!  I recall that Thelda loved spending money and how her parents indulged her, buying the most expensive woolen capes for autumn days when the days became cool and giving her gift cards to the better department stores there in the city. Money was a plaything for Thelda and it was never enough. The classes that Melba and Thelda sat through in finishing school should have warned their students about the real world; gangsters, robber barons and the like. 

The picture of Melba and Thelda and the green and white Christmas tree is heartwarming; do you think it would be wise for Melba to send a copy of the picture by post to Thelma?  It is possible that Thelda might come to her senses and write a very jolly letter in hopes that Melba will forgive her for running off with the robber baron.  I think all will be forgiven for Melba was such a true blue friend. 

Christmas time is is the most beautiful time of the year especially when there is snow on the ground and the lights on the Christmas trees in every house are shining their many different colors, red, blue, orange and green and candy canes decorate the lower branches so the little children can reach them . 

Sending Christmas wishes to you and Melba and Fanny, Pearl

Just in case you change your mind doo do doo do do doo

Pearl!  Melba had a friend named Thelda! They met in finishing school and were inseparable until Thelda married a robber baron and moved away.  Your letter sent me to the shoebox with those old photos where I found this one of Thelda and Melba decorating for The Green and White Christmas Ball.  Where DOES the time go, dear friend?

I Remain Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

Did I ever tell you about my Aunt Mame and Uncle Orin? Well my Aunt Mame was the oldest of the three sisters, Mame, Antoinette and Thelda.  She married a wimpy fellow with red hair and a quiet way and all the relatives, including my grandmother, felt sorry for him as he struggled to be more manly.  The illustration you sent with your letter, Miss Blue, of Clarence and Marjorie, is so like my memory of my Aunt Mame and Uncle Orin.

I am sorry that Chesterton finds it impossible to paint goats.  The horns of the goat are a protection in case some farm creature, like another goat, wants to win a butting battle.  Was he chased by a goat? That would certainly be  a frightening memory. Do you remember Beatrice My Pet Goat? No goats allowed in my neighborhood . . . so sad for Beatrice and for me. Goats are docile when loved.  

Love to you and Melba and Fanny, Pearl

              

Dear Pearl,

Oh joy!  I do believe we have found a suitor for the estimable Mrs Highbottom!  Clarence is a bit of a milquetoast to my tastes, but he is just the sort of soul that Marjorie Highbottom needs in her life.  Shy and nervous as he is, Marjorie will fill his life with purpose and errands.  He has the fortune left to him by his mother so his wardrobe is perfectly suitable for the circles Marjorie moves in.  Oh Pearl, isn't love grand?  

Chesterton's show at The Tower was a great success!  He sold all his landscapes to the well appointed ladies who lunch at the tearoom there. There were no goats in any of the scenes else I would have plucked it from the wall for you.  He says he had a scarring experience with a goat in his childhood and avoids them at all costs.  Even their cheese!

I hope your work with the Harmonies is keeping you amused.

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

Your letter reached me several days ago and I have pondered over and over about Melba's new beau.  So like the artistic, never wanting to be overlooked so that his own apparel choice makes a statement as does his painting - green socks and smock in disarray. Colors of red and green are thought of as Christmas colors and all the stores are showing every item red and green. I must confess Miss Blue, that when I wear my favorite red plaid shirt the people here in my neighborhood give me looks of admiration and even, poor dears, envy! Melba's offering one of her best bedrooms  as a studio for her new friend is understandable; since usually artists are very poor and unable to provide themselves with the space for a studio. I hope the holiday season will bring Chesterton (a great name for an artist) much needed success so that the Christmas Season will be a happy time for him. I do hope he paints animals, i.e. a charmingly painted goat. In past Christmases we have exchanged gifts, A gift from you to me maybe one of Chesterton's paintings of a goat?  Of course I plan to find the perfect gift for you, my dear Miss Blue

Sending my love to you and Melba and Fanny,

Pearl