Poets and Plants and Picture Books

In Framington, Mass, there is a garden that is listed in my book of 1000 Gardens You should See Before You Die.  But yesterday we had to drive on by it because it was closed on Mondays.  We decided to go way back and see it this  morning.


It was cold and spitting rain, but we strode out to see what we could see in bloom.  

 This is a wildflower garden, and as such, its treasures are often small and subtle.

 The woodland pathways were lovely.

 It was interesting to contrast the deciduous woods of New England with the coniferous and evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest.

 Was it worth the hour plus each way to go back?  I can't say.  But it was an opportunity to get into a New England wood, and we can now cross another major garden off of our life list.


Back across the state, we began our tour of the Pioneer Valley, college studded farmland along the Connecticut River.


First stop was Holyoke and Holyoke Heritage State Park, 

 where we ate out picnic lunch.

 Holyoke is an old textile mill town, with canals much like those we saw in Lowell.

 The town hall is magnificent.

 The library is temporarily occupying the great hall.

 Completed in 1876, the hall is adorned with wonderful stained glass windows.

 We stopped by the beautiful old campus of Mount Holyoke college.

 And of course we visited the old glass houses.

 Near Amherst we sought out a special museum, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.  

 We couldn't take photographs in the galleries, but they feature the book making process and the drawings and mock ups for an Eric Carle book.  The one currently featured was Slowly, Slow, Slowly, Said the Sloth.  Other picture book artists are also featured, and there is an extensive library and reading room of picture books, plus a wonderful, book filled gift shop.


Eric Carle painted these works to brighten up the main hallway.

In Amherst, we drove past Amherst college and found the home of Emily Dickinson, the Belle of Amherst.

Her brother's house next door.

And the Jones Library, which has some wonderful special collections.

The Jones Library has the original manuscript for Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.

Short on time, and getting road weary, we skipped Smith College.  Along the route to Greenfield, our overnight destination, we checked out Historic Deerfield, an old village that has been preserved in the various eras it represents, dating back to the 1600's.

Nothing was open late in the afternoon, but one could probably spend most of a day here with the many places open to the public.