“It is sometimes refreshing”

Vincent van Gogh to his mother, from Saint-Remy, 20 December 1889

The weather here is rather soft these days, though there are also many days of frost and wind, but here the sun shines more strongly than in Holland. Do you remember that Rappard once said, "It is sometimes refreshing," when he was staying with us after he had typhoid fever; I sometimes think of it when I am feeling much stronger and at times more clear-headed than last year.

Letter 619
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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