Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967), Roadside Stream, April 1, 1939; watercolor on paper, 25 x 18 inches; Burchfield Penney Art Center, Gift of Sylvia Rosen, 2003
A dream –
Of being on a walk, N.E. of Salem. Turning down the Covered Bridge road (that leads east from the Egypt Rd.) I discovered that during a violent rain and thunderstorm of the night before, a huge tree had fallen across the bridge, demolishing it. Some men and boys were at work on it sawing off the smaller limbs. When I started to go across the stream using the tree as a bridge, they warned me it was not safe. From one of the foremost limbs which I had climbed upon I saw that this was so. The stream was swollen to many times its width, and here became a “raging torrent”. I climbed down and went under the tree. Here, miraculously the stream had dwindled to a mere trickle, and I was above to cross without any trouble.
Charles E. Burchfield, January 29, 1948