Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Blackbirds in the Snow, 1941-45; watercolor on joined paper, 20 1/4 x 29 1/2 inches; Walker Art Center, Gift of the T. B. Walker Foundation, Gilbert M. Walker Fund, 1946
A dream
Going next door (to Bengert’s) clad only in my underwear. What my errand was I do not remember, but I was hoping to sneak past their house without being discovered. But Mrs. B came to the back door just as I came opposite it, and said with a rising inflection in her voice “Ye-es?” I said, “I was wondering if I could buy some of your tomatoes. I’ll pick them myself.” “Oh you can have all you want for nothing,” she replied. “I feel awfully silly in my underwear,” I said, “I hope no one sees me.” Mr. Bengert had come now and said, “Yes, you do look rather queer.” I turned & went towards their back lot.
It seemed like a narrow channel of some sort – it was filled with a mixture of black muck and water, of the consistency of thick pea-soup. As I started wading in it, rain commenced to fall, and thick heavy rain clouds seemed to sag almost to the ground. Just as I reached a point opposite my studio, I awoke.
Charles E. Burchfield, December 16-17, 1945