Branchville, May 5, 1897

The artist Albert Pinkham Ryder to Julian Alden Weir, after a stay at Weir's farm:

My Dear Julian,

I feel it my duty to drop you a line to let you know what good your kind interest and brotherly friendship have done for me.  I sleep nights, Mr. and Mrs. Remy [the farm’s caretakers] are as kind as possible; I like the domestic noise and bustle of their dwelling, and the busy planning of the garden which comes on apace.

I have never seen the beauty of a spring before; which is something to have lived and suffered for.  The landscape and the air are full of promise.  That eloquent little fruit tree that we looked at together, like a spirit among the more earthly colors, is already losing its fairy blossoms, showing the lesson of life; how alert we must be if we would have its gift and values.

My little guide Carl Remy waits in the morning to see what I would do; and is altogether a sweet and amiable little lad and his brother also.

If when I get cured I could only learn to have language so as not to be continually misunderstood, except by you and those who have known me so many years.

I wish you could have been here and enjoyed the beauty of your own place.

I am still quite weak in the head, so with kind remembrances and best wishes for Mrs. Weir and the children I am yours in all friendship and appreciation,

Albert P. Ryder