Emily Dickinson's Garden

I'm having very bad New York City cravings lately. Honestly, it's all I can do to keep myself from whipping out a credit card and jumping on a plane. There are the usual lures on my mind--the theatres, the museums, the black-and-white cookies--but right now there's an additional reason why I'd like to be there: a chance to stroll through Emily Dickinson's garden.

How often do you get the chance to visit the thoroughly researched, re-created 19th century garden of a famous American poet? But now through mid-June, the New York Botanical Garden, together with the Poetry Society of America, is offering such an opportunity. You can wander through a replica of Dickinson's family property in Amherst, Massachusetts and view personal artifacts belonging to the poet. You can also tour the Emily Dickinson Poetry Walk, where 30 poetry boards and audio messages offer interpretations of the poems that were so inspired by Dickinson's love of nature and the garden.

It sounds like a lovely mixture of gardening, literature, and history and it pains me to miss out on seeing it. So if you happen to be in New York in the coming weeks, maybe you can check it out for me.

And have a black-and-white cookie for me too.