June 5, 2026 – The Shakespeare Garden

One of my absolute favorite corners of Central Park is the Shakespeare Garden, tucked alongside the Delacorte Theater — home to the beloved Shakespeare in the Park productions every summer. Here’s a fun fact that delights me every time I think about it: every plant in this garden — trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs — comes directly from the pages of Shakespeare’s plays and poems, with bronze plaques scattered throughout quoting the very lines that reference them. The man clearly had a thing for botanizing, because the garden shifts and blooms beautifully through every season.

It’s also become one of my favorite spots for morning meditation.

And then — a woman. Feeding cardinals. Out of her hand. Just casually, like that’s a normal thing people do. It was one of those only-in-the-park moments that stops you in your tracks. So cool.

I also love capturing pictures of the Castle in the morning. The light is just perfect for it. Just for fun, I included an AI rendering that my daughter-in-law did when I sent her this picture of Toffee saying that, “we princesses need our castles.”