Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, May 20, 1938

Thinking of the harbor life, and its leisurely character, it seems as tho work in one of the elevators would have none of the grimness that I associate with modern industry.  There came to mind then a picture of a vast long meadow, lush with rich new green grass, flanked on both sides by a long low factories (not more than three or four stories high) which were old and partially covered with ivy.  The workmen in them could look out across their benches, thru open windows, over the green meadows.

Then  I thought of the hummocks of May, bristling with new emerald grass, and how they would look to men as they trudged home wearily in the evening, and it seemed as if such an impression as theirs would be more vital than mine, for I no longer get tired in a factory.

-Charles E. Burchfield, May 20, 1938