Wonderful to have flowers in the dead of winter

This gorgeous  star gazer lily is part of a big bouquet I was given ten days ago.  There were beautiful white tulips which did not last beyond 5 or 6 days -- they just quiety dropped all their petals on the table.  But the bouquet contained several stems of lilies with unopened buds. The first open lilies are gone. This is one of the second flowering. I think I may be lucky enough to enjoy a third flowering. What a pleasure when it is white and cold and wet outside to have such color to look at on my dining table!

They were given to me at the launch party for Reflections, the anthology by and for members of the Academy of Lifelong Learning. With a committee of six, all well versed in grammar, punctuation and good writing, I spent some nine months -- yes, a normal gestation period -- editing and then arranging, adding illustrations to the work of 47 people, poetry, nonfiction and fiction as well as some photography.  The work is indeed a "reflection" of the experiences, concerns and thoughts of our population of senior course coordinators and students. It's been a pleasure for me to work on the anthologies for the past four years.   The books are handsome and very readable.  I'm feeling rather proud.