Every year S. invites us to her house to make a centerpiece out of evergreens that she gathers from hither and yon, plus a cornucopia of tchotchkes that she has collected from an even wider hither and yon.

A while back she took a high level floral arranging class from a world class florist and learned all the tricks of the trade. She has been giving us mini classes each time we do our centerpieces.

We had a great day, eating food we brought to share and making a big mess snipping fir branches and poking them into some semblance of order.

Every year, I learn more and every year I think I'm improving.

The Rabbis say: "Find yourself a teacher." Well, this I have done.... :-)