To country east of Bowen Rd. Park first on Bowen Rd. and walk eastward to explore swamp.
The pussy willow bushes, fully out, and a soft silvery gray - up against the sky & sunlit, they had a smoky quality.
In the swamp here the air warm, flies & various insects - every little pool shrill with peepers.
The open field. Bluebird calling - Like the hepatica, I cannot fully grasp the beauty of this creature. Visions of my boyhood, of raw yellow banks, of blue & white clay – He was a shy fellow, & I could never get as close to him as I wished, but several times I caught his color against the dark of a bush or tree.
Discover that Hall Road comes thru here. Down it to Bowen – discover a pond full of peepers, & decide to paint it. The cows breaking out of pasture.
Drive back & after a hasty lunch, set up my easel, and then discovered I had forgotten my paints & brushes. Leaving the easel stand I hurried home & was back again in twenty minutes.
All afternoon on the sketch. The peepers were so numerous & vociferous that my ears fairly rang. I tried to put this into the picture.
Charles E. Burchfield, March 21, 1946