Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Saturday April 8, 1911

This morning work was little better. For a while I jollied King but then I announced that I wasn’t going to speak for an hour_, Bill and King worked on either side of me, and both at once began to call me all the names they ever heard or could invent, but I bravely stood the test and actually didn’t speak for an hour and five minutes, altho I was sorely tempted at times. Poor Scullion was a victim of Bill’s bossyness and he very near got mad several times. Along in the middle of the morning we had to stamp envelopes and Bill told Joe he had to take out the stamped envelopes. Every time he came in from such a trip we all would “jump on him” and tell him to hurry until he was furious.

        After dinner I went out to work in the yard. All day the air had been chilly and the sky grey and now a fine rain began 69. to fall, mingled with snow. So I got my overcoat and defied this ugly weather. I raked up a lot of grass and made a fire, which aided by branches, was soon burning cheerily and sending up great clouds of pure white smoke. Then I set to work at the grepe-arbor_, First I gathered up all the grapevines, for I would not rake here where the wild flowers were. Then I took up the worn out board walk and raked out thru the center. There were many angleworms here and I hated to disturb them. Soon this was done and I sprinkled manure over the flower beds. By now it was raining harder and I was driven indoors.

     After awhile it got a little colder and soon big, wet flakes of snow were coming down from the northeast on a wet chilly earth. It seems as tho it will never be Spring to stay, but I saw another sure sign Thursday night. During the storm as I was bringing the clothes back, I saw a big hop-toad in the middle of the side-walk, and after supper when we were watching the lightning, we could hear either frogs or toads singing in some distant marsh. Mother said that it sounded mournful to her, but it meant Spring to me.

After I got thru with my outdoor work, I determined to go to work at my map; but the snow had too much fascin