seen at the B'town fair yesterday

Mrs. B., retired kindergarten teacher that two of my kids had, who also ran a 4-H group that one of my kids participated in. She and her husband also had a farm in town and sold produce at local farmers markets--he's passed away, and she doesn't do that now, but she was in the 4-H tent, next to the baby calves, holding an adolescent duckling, with silky black feathers, cradled in her hands, a smile on her face.

"How are the kids?" she asked, and I talked about the two who are in Japan, and she talked about her daughter who's been in Ireland for 12 years. And then four children came up, curious about the duck, and she started explaining how it was still a duckling and the smallest of its siblings, and she pointed out where the others were.

She's a wonderful woman. If only you could have seen her smile and the gentle way she held that duck.

Here are those baby calves.