Maybe she is not the most beautiful girl in the world, but she’s real without even trying, and that is natural beauty.

— Anonymous

This silk floss tree stands tall and proud in the Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California. “She” looks graceful, shapely and a bit shy, wouldn’t you say?

Maybe she is not the most beautiful girl in the world, but she’s real without even trying. And that is natural beauty. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2018. www.walled-in-berlin.com

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on the home page of http://www.walled-in-berlin.comWalled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War.