Charles E. Burchfield Journals, August 2, 1913

After supper we lay around watching the approach of night-fall. For me that was the best thing of the whole trip*. The sun had just set and the light of the day had not yet commenced to fade. Soon June-bugs began to come out of the grass. What clumsy ridiculous insects they are to be sure! They make a great fuss as the come up into the air, buzzing and fussing at a great rate. Free of the grass they would fly up with a metallic buzzing sound, alighting usually in the lower branch of a tree, whence after a brief rest, they'd fly off thru the air out of sight. For an hour or more they continued coming. Presently whippoorwills began to call. They were the first I had ever heard and I must say I was surprised. I had always thought that their call "Whip-poor-will" was a mournful one; and only repeated at long effective intervals during the night. But this rapid continuous call—how different! Not fitting to night in the woods. Presently the moon came up and added mystery to the woods and fields. Fireflies came forth and began floating lazily around. And indeed this was the best part for me—the mystery of the night in the woods. There was something in the air that put charm on every bush stick stone tree or sound.

Charles Burchfield, August 2, 1913

*Charles Burchfield, with his brothers Joe and Fred, spend a night camping out on a “Frog-leggin’ trip”…about a mile northeast of New Albany, Ohio. (August 2, 1913 journal entry)