Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

Lunch by the side of the road, under a young oak tree, overlooking the valley which shimmered with the heat-haze; after which I stretched out on the dying grass, and dozed in the heat. How far away the world seemed – here the war did not matter – I felt at peace.; Studies all afternoon on the road, and also the Mountain Pass picture (which was at the bottom of the hill). Looking up the side of the tree-covered hills into the dazzling sun-shot sky, which seemed to dissolve and stream down over the trees in a hot blue-haze.; Very late when I headed for Emporium – (study of sunburst behind the huge dark hill – the muffled human voices in the valley – a cow-bell).; At dinner – when I asked the waiter what kinds of pies they had he solemnly replied – apple, cherry, one piece of lemon, one berry, and custard.; For a walk thru the town after dark. Then later, drive up the mountain to the south – The dark, and loneliness gave me a thrill as I went on and on up the winding road. When I came out on the hill plateau, I parked by the side of the road, turned out the lights, and stood in the road. Save for a farmhouse, where someone, doing chores, carried a lantern, there were no lights to mar the effect of the dark, which at first seemed very black indeed, but which soon receded into a vague luminous dark gray – Over-head, the star-studded sky was divided with the SW-NE diagonal of the