Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, Springfield, MA – MAY 2013

Located on the Quadrangle green between Springfield Museums and the Springfield Library, its impressive name  suggested a much larger display.

Room by Room

They have a sapling sculpture by Patrick Dougherty, that you can walk through.

I've been to his "Tower of Twig's" at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens, but "Room by Room" is his largest work.

The sculptor, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, was a step-daughter of Dr. Seuss.

Foot of Desk

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, MA, the grandson of German immigrants. 

He graduated in 1917 from Springfield Central High School.

He met his future wife, in college and never completed his Doctor of Philosophy in English literature, yet his works speak volumes on the subject.

That looks like a reindog, to me...and I should know, I shot my first reindog in 1989: Reindogs

Yertle the Turtle

They had my favorite Dr. Seuss book at the gift shop:

I still have my copy from college…

I created a drinking game around trying to read it out loud as fast as you can…

...if you make a mistake, you take a shot and pass the book to the next person.

I was the only one who could finish the game.

West Cemetery, Amherst, MA - 18 MAY 2013

A Death blow is a Life blow to Some
Who till they died, did not alive become—
Who had they lived, had died but when
They died, Vitality begun. 

       —Emily Dickinson—

   

I'm nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

    —Emily Dickinson—

Emily Dickinson’s Home, Amherst, MA – 18 MAY 2013

Her home was built by her grandfather in 1813. This Federal style house is believed to be the first brick house in Amherst.

Emily was born here and spent most of her life in this house. She had only two siblings, an older brother who ended up living next door and a younger brother who died in his youth.

Brothers House

The Emily Dickinson Museum was created in 2003 when the two houses were merged under the ownership of Amherst College.

Garage Wind Vane

Originally the property was 15 acres but is now only 2 acres.

The most intense hurricane to make landfall in the US and the Atlantic Basin in recorded history, hit this area in 1935; this tree in her back yard, is believed to be the only large tree to survive that storm.

She is buried in the family plot in the small local cemetery (West Cemetery).

The original tombstone simply had her initials, “EED” inscribed on it. The headstone was later replaced by her niece who included Emily’s birth and death dates as well as the phrase “Called Back.”

They were the only words in her last known letter written to a cousin. It may have been a reference to a popular novella (Called Back) which Emily said was, “a haunting story…greatly impressive to me.”

I was told people often leave things at her grave.

“No major poet is more dense, more compressed, more elliptical, more elusive… so far ahead of her time, it seems like we are only now learning how to read her.” – Dean Rader

“She is now almost universally considered to be one of the most important American poets.” –Harold Bloom

At one corner of the plot, was this small crude door which held a zip lock bad filled with notes.

Teenage Emily Daguerreotype

“She is known for her poignant, compressed, and deeply charged poems, which have profoundly influenced the direction of 20th-century poetry, and gained her an almost cult following among some.” –Biography.com

Tinky Winky went along for the tour, but was not able to sneak into any exhibits as no photos were allowed inside the house.