I played thru my new Sibelius records, the sixth symphony...grows rapidly in power & beauty; it fills me with happiness, and has that unaccountable manner of doing that belongs only to Sibelius
So I go to nature when I want sincerity. In nature we not only find sincerity but also innocence. And when, on all sides I am beset with a palaver and artifice, I feel the need of drawing a long breath, I rambled the fields.
Cold + grey at starting. A milky blue haze on the air. Even as I started a fall of starflakes commenced out of the southwest, driven by an icy wind.
A lot of cards in the mail – it is pleasant to sit and open them – much is written and said about the futility of sending and receiving cards from friends or acquaintances at Christmas time – especially since there is no correspondence between Christmases – I do not feel this is true – there may be some perfunctory ones, but they are greatly in the minority
A cold breezy day with bright sunshine. Up early. Sketching from the wonderland of frost on the window panes...
"There was a wind today!...I spent an hour or so carrying out the ashes from the furnace - and thus I got the wind anew at each trip."
Wrapped + mailed Rehn’s greeting...
…Mounted the large India ink brush tracing of “May, 9, 1917” – (I have practically solved the difficulty of mounting such large tracings, by first immersing them completely in water, then laying it on a previously arranged newspaper mat, on a large cardboard, then lifting it to the table, and smoothing it out with a large “dry” sponge).
Arising sleepy, the approach of the sun awakened me with its beauty. A long streak of light as on the evening I saw Sundogs went up into the frozen air.
...what joy it is to find one more treasure to add to the store that slowly accumulates thru one’s life – that store of great minds, great works of art, and expressions that peculiarly belong to us. They come generally out of a clear sky, unheralded. I was filled with a joyous warmth of feeling, and sat thinking of some of the things that I love some of the human beings who mean so much to me