Charles E. Burchfield's Dreams, Journals, November 13, 1945

A dream - In Salem, there is some sort of a celebration in progress and for it, various little plots of ground were being planted as part of the decorative scheme (at which I was helping). Most beautiful of these were some hepaticas in the full glory of their bloom, which I thought had been preserved by a new method of quick freezing.  While I was admiring them, someone came along with a jar of special water, in which it was possible to put butterflies alive. He had all sorts in it, notably a tiger swallowtail and Monarch, and they all swam slowly up and down in the jars. In the water also some tiny transparent minnows about a half inch long, which were visible only when the curve of their bodies caught the light. 

Later, Bertha & I were engaged in planting flowers in the strips of ground that usually lie between sidewalks and streets among other things, violets in bloom. I remember thinking that our “civic” virtue in doing this ought to be written up in the Reader’s Digest.

I wandered now into a grocer’s stall, run by Mrs. Ball (of Gardenville). On a shelf were some trays of freshly picked black raspberries, beautiful to look at. When I tried to examine them, I tipped the trays over and the berries were spilled all over the ground. Mrs. Ball came bustling out to see what the commotion was. I apologized and told her I would pay for them, but she refused, and said they could easily be picked up. We were engaged in this when I awoke.

Charles E. Burchfield, November 13, 1945