Friends, I have some very sad news. You may have noticed that we’ve been commenting on the absence of our loyal reader and dear friend, Hal Loeblein. I learned yesterday morning that Hal has passed. The lovely Lois, another friend and reader who had corresponded with Hal a time or two, sent an email inquiry and received a kind response from Hal’s son, Karl. Our sweet friend died April 28 from complications of pneumonia, Covid, and cardiovascular disease. I was afraid something terrible had happened. He’d been in and out of the hospital for a while, and I knew he was having medical challenges, but even with all that, Hal never missed a post.

Hal lived an interesting life. He enjoyed a wonderful marriage with his now-deceased wife Jan (about whom he talked regularly), he’d served in the military, he was a motorcycle guy, he worked as a professional dancer and loved everything related to dance, and he had some pretty interesting tastes in art. Hal was a man of simple tastes, and often talked about how some of the more extravagant items about which I wrote couldn’t be found at Walmart (which he knew made me laugh). He regularly commented that you’re never too old to learn something new, and that was Hal in a nutshell. He was always interested and engaged, even when he didn’t feel a connection to that day’s subject. He was very generous with his comments, and wasn’t afraid to let us know when he didn’t love something, but he always found something positive to say. Hal told us last month that his dream was to own a one-room log cabin at the foot of the Rockies. I wish he’d gotten to realize that dream.

One of the things I love best about the blog is the wonderful little community that has built up around it, and Hal was a very important part of that community. I loved his comments and his suggestions for new artists. He used to send me links to things he thought I’d enjoy, and though it often took me a while to respond, I always appreciated his thinking of me. In honor of our friend Hal, I thought today, I’d put up some posts that remind me of him. Some were Hal recommendations, some were posts on which he revealed something cool about himself, some were just artists I know he really liked.

• Etsomnia 189: The Color Purple
• Painter of Women
• Irish Step Dance… Sort of
• 9th Blogging Anniversary Post
• Daniil Sees
• Meditations in Bronze
• First Dance
• Swan Lake?
• The Hot Sardines
• Etsomnia 344: Prom Por Homme
• Charlene From Walmart
• Toe Tapping
• The Como Mamas

Sending love to his family, and wishing them all better days. Farewell, my friend. We will never forget you.