…where the windborn ripples reflected the sunlight on the stream bed in endless streamers of fire—Thru hollow where in front the stream was partly covered with a thin layer of ice, free from water, woven with curious frost designs or smooth flowing lines—in places the tinkle of the stream and wind sawing thru a leafy maple; where tree branches dipped amazing busy with odd cries crept up and down the sunlit trees; where nearby a pair of cardinals pleased the eye, where a downy woodpecker raps with business-like precision in the top of a dead tree.
Charles Burchfield, January 27, 1915