One thing I learned from my mother was an appreciation of natural beauty. She couldn’t get enough of God’s creation. She would inevitably drag home pieces of driftwood from the beach, admiring the twists and textures unique to each one. My dad was so patient! And I seem to have inherited her penchant for picking up shells and sticks and interesting rocks.

In her later years, mom took a creative writing class. The following is an essay she wrote about one of her favorite memories as a young woman on her own far from home in the late 1930s:

A Memory

By June Burton

During semester break at school in Southern California, I went to visit my grandmother in Berkeley. While I was there, a family friend who drove a van to deliver coffee to hotels and restaurants invited me to go along with him to San Francisco.

I looked forward with great excitement to my first trip along the beach and to Golden Gate Park.

As we drove across the lower desk of the Bay Bridge, I craned my neck for a better look at the bay and Alcatraz. (In the late 30’s and 40’s buses, commercial vehicles and trains traveled on the lower deck.) I chattered excitedly the whole way across town oohing and aahing.

Having grown up in the flatlands of the Southwest this was to me breathtaking scenery. I gripped my seat tightly and sucked in my breath as we plunged up and down the steep hills of the city.

The tall buildings, streetcars and pedestrians all added to the pleasure of the ride on our way to the beach.

The gnarled and twisted cypress trees (I saw there) had a beauty I had never seen before. Since then, I have learned the cypress is a favorite subject for artists because of its picturesque beauty. I could have sat for hours just looking at them. My friend looked at them with new eyes catching some of my enthusiasm. He said he had never realized that anyone thought those trees were beautiful.

The sting of the salt air caused my nose to tingle; and I longed to hold the spray from the waves and breakers suspended.

As we drove along the winding roads through the park the fragrance, vibrant colors and beauty of the many flowers and shrubs was indescribable.

The squeals of delight from a 17-year-old both amused and pleased my friend. Later he told his wife that he had never enjoyed a trip to San Francisco so much.