[Burchfield bracketed this portion of the entry in red pencil, in reference to the location of the Christmas market]
I recall now an incident before Christmas, which brought me up sharply to the realization of how much the modern instance of the realism of violence and blood-shed had seeped into my consciousness. Each year at this season, it is the custom of a restaurant across from the market to procure and hang outside its doors, wild game — usually a moose and a deer; but this year, a black bear was included. I always get a thrill when I see them, for the sight smacks of the Far North, or more primitive days. Thinking that Arthur would get a similar thrill, I suggested, on one of the evenings we were in town shopping, that I take him up to see them; but he shook his head and declined positively – The look in his eyes told me he could not stand the sight of seeing beautiful wild creatures hanging dead and bloody — and I realized with something of horror what I had been trying to do to him.
Charles E. Burchfield, January 3, 1941