Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)

the lake country—flat, shallow slate bottomed—; South on 16—after some miles discover the kind of creek I wanted, but as it happened the road over the bridge spanning it had just been tarred, and the tar & oil sullied the surface of the creek.; On to Hinsdale—here the road being repaired, I turned east on 408—(I had never been to Cuba.) —almost at once I came upon an ideal creek running in a winding fashion along with the road, while I could easily have imagined to be the Little Beaver—Possibly it was the Allegheny, or, since it flowed west, a tributary of that stream and therefore draining into the Gulf of Mexico, as did the Little Beaver (Later on in the day, a few miles east of here, I came upon Black Creek which, since it flowed into the Genesee River, belonged to the Great Lakes, or St. Laurence system.); After a brief explanatory excursion, and picking out a tentative subject, I parked by the road & planned to carry my lunch down to the creek. It commenced to rain however and I was compelled to eat in the car. The shower became a blinding downpour, but fortunately did not last long. I soon had my outfit set up and was at work—; All afternoon on the painting—it was a pleasant spot, and a fine interesting day—a little rain at times, and again half misty sunshine. A large fish (bass?) at times jumped out of the water with a great commotion—turtles, deep toned bull-frogs—; Finished about 6:00. Having been under a low-growing elm all afternoon, with only a small part of the sky