B is for....

Babies
I like babies. I liked my own because they were mine. I like other people's babies because they aren't mine. I can play peek-a-boo with them and tickle them and cuddle them and then when they begin to cry or need to be changed or fed I can hand them back to their mothers. I once told a doctor I didn't know well that twenty minutes was my limit for listening to a baby cry. He stood silently for a minute and then quietly asked "What happens after twenty minutes?" "I begin to cry too" I confessed.

Ballerina, secret
An endearment from John which is also a private joke. The summer I was seven I took ballet lessons. I loved them but alas, I was not the graceful swan I wanted to be or thought I was. At the end of the summer there was a recital. My parents were unable to attend so a kind neighbor brought me. I made up for my lack of grace with enthusiasm and did a really grand grand-jete, landing in the laps of the people in the front row, collapsing two rows of chairs. I'm thankful no one was hurt. John, the perpetual optomist, claims he's scouring Ebay constantly and knows that somewhere, someone has a home movie of that and when he finds it, he'll bid as high as he needs to in order to win.

Baseball
One of the most boring sports to watch, as are tennis, golf and car racing.

Betsy Wetsy
My favorite doll when I was five. I would give her her little plastic bottle of water and then change her diaper and usually all of her clothes as well. It gave me good practice for when I became a mother.

Bird, watching
My desk is right alongside a sliding glass door in the dining room. In the summer I open it and just have a screen between me and the outside. There's a snowball tree along the fence and in it there's a bird feeder. I keep several bird books and binoculars on my desk to watch the birds that visit it. Every March, when the Oregon grape flowers, I see a hummingbird. It's always just once and always just one hummingbird.

Blessing, it's a
This is on my list of most irritating phrases. It's usually used by someone who's hearing about a tragic or unpleasant event who feels compelled to say something and that something has to be to turn it into something it isn't. Sometimes it's best to just say "I'm sorry" and leave it at that.

Blueberries (see also: Corn, heaven)

Broken (promises, dreams, lives)
I have a strong sense of keeping promises, big and small. If I promise to keep a secret, I will. Broken promises cause one to lose trust. Broken dreams are difficult to bear. Broken lives can be mended but the seam showing where it was broken, the scar, remains forever.

Books, childhood favorites, Nancy Drew (see also: memorizing
license plates)
I loved the Nancy Drew mysteries when I was in elementary school and read every one published up to the time I stopped reading them.

Bumblebees
I don't know how bumblebees fly, but I'm always delighted if I catch sight of one. They seem to be rarer and rarer.

Buttons, collecting
I collect buttons. I have a five gallon glass jar of mother-of-pearl (abbreviated to MOP to those of us who are collectors), dozens of carved MOPs, as well as jars of celluloid and metal buttons. I like unusual buttons in different shapes and have a collection of heart shaped buttons. I like buttons but I don't like sewing missing buttons onto clothes.