Charles E. burchfield, Journals, August 31, 1913

Inconsistent as the statement may seem, I can only describe today contradictory terms, as bright and cloudy. There are days when the clouds, however dense, have a certain vague luminosity, which did we not look upwards towards the sky, would make us think the sun were shining. Clouds today went by in allotments a clear space coming at noon, of which the sun took advantage and beat down mercilessly.

I took a walk around thru the garden early in the morning. Morning glory vines are in a sad condition - leaves yellowed and curling - but the flowers themselves are a splendid contrast, for they are diminished somewhat in size they have lost none of their divine color and texture. The portulaea bed is still a source of wonder to me. From thee arose the vibrant humming of honey-bees, whose life task, it seems to me, must be one of the most pleasant imaginable. To human beings, the fruit of ones chosen work is honey. It is a pity that all of us cannot gather honey. And it is a still greater pity that some must gather the honey for others, for then it is lost to both the gatherers and the one for whom it is gathered, who loses the joy of the gathering.

Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, August 31, 1913