Burbank's Creation

In fourth grade, I went to a funky little school called the Bentley School. It was housed an a rambling old multistory wooden mansion in Berkeley. Founded by two sisters, it still exists today, although it has moved and has become expensive now. Of the ten schools I experienced as we moved around in the Navy, it was the best and my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Vohs, was the best teacher I had, ever.

Mrs. Vohs was one of those ladies who made children want to learn to please her. She was very positive and upbeat but she never took any guff from us, either. When she learned I was bad at subtraction, she immediately formed a "Subtraction Club" in which the best students helped me to get up to speed quickly in subtraction and somehow made me feel like I had gained admission to some desirable group by being lousy at math. Now, that's gifted teaching!

Mrs. Vohs also taught me about Luther Burbank and his many contributions to the world of botany; to this day, my favorite of his creations are nectarines. Easier and sweeter than peaches, nectarines are the best of all possible stone fruits. They rock as simple fresh fruit and, when you grill them alongside your pork chop, concentrating their sugars and striping them with caramelized goodness, they reach a stage of deliciosity that simply cannot be bettered in this life - and maybe even in Heaven.

Bless you Luther Burbank and thank you Mrs. Vohs!