Up late. We had intended going to church somewhere but Frank called us at 11:00 & asked us to come over to his apartment & later have “Brunch” at the Town & Country on Park Ave.
It was warmer this morning – The sky became a heavy oppressive grey, buildings took on a dark velvety blue shade; tree bases were black, & people’s faces as they walk along well lit up by the glow of the snow below.
Dusk – Snow Gloom; houses look startled at snow, tree bases deep black & vibrate; running children jet black –
Freedom – the joy of closing one’s eyes and seeing visions of raw hillsides, beyond a mean street and feeling the impulse to paint this boldly, exuberantly with the mind of a creator, caring not about the result – this is freedom.
From Steubenville I walked northwards along the railroad track. The heavy winter mist, that all morning had obscured West Virginia, and gave the river the appearance of a vast lake, had now disappeared for the most part.
Burchfield transcriptions:
But after all, man is the great poet, and not Homer or Shakespeare; and our language itself & the common arts of life are his work - / Thoreau
The poet will write for his peers alone. He will remember only that he saw truth and beauty from his position, and expect the time when a vision as broad shall overlook the same field as freely. / Thoreau
Mild and Sunny — the breathing, as it were, of snow melting in the sun, was like the first hint of spring. A rather do-less day — little odd jobs, such as making a “box album” for the year 1962 of the Journals, etc. When I went into the studio, I found the small furnace in the new part of the studio, not working — Called M.S. who came down in the afternoon and fixed it...
Two Thaw-days - yesterday a clear day with intense, warm sunshine - rivulets of melted snow streaking over the ice, casting upwards a million miniature suns.
A mild, partly sunny & cloudy day — After church to H.J.’s for dinner unsatisfactory...
Stagnant, undecided weather – The pale sun shines on the snow with a clear orange brassy color that I always associate with late February or early March-