Tim Watson
@timwatson.bsky.social
English professor in Miami. British-American. London > Bishop's Stortford > Brighton > Brooklyn > Miami. Subtropical gardener. Florida Mangos: A Cultural History, forthcoming from U of Florida Press. Posts are my own and do not represent my employer.
Florida Tree Snail, Everglades National Park
November 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Florida Tree Snail, Everglades National Park
Lepidopterist friends: Cloudless Sulphur or Orange-Barred Sulphur?
It's feeding on the flowers of a Bahama senna, hence the yellow caterpillar.
It's feeding on the flowers of a Bahama senna, hence the yellow caterpillar.
November 9, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Lepidopterist friends: Cloudless Sulphur or Orange-Barred Sulphur?
It's feeding on the flowers of a Bahama senna, hence the yellow caterpillar.
It's feeding on the flowers of a Bahama senna, hence the yellow caterpillar.
so I don't have any more information than this Instagram post but apparently Boris Johnson has a new part-time job
November 4, 2025 at 2:15 AM
so I don't have any more information than this Instagram post but apparently Boris Johnson has a new part-time job
This British American says
October 18, 2025 at 2:10 PM
This British American says
it's not living its best life, but please admire this tree snail's resilience clinging on to the exterior concrete stairwell of my university's central administration building
(there's probably a metaphor for current higher ed in here too but it's the end of the week and i'm too tired to find it)
(there's probably a metaphor for current higher ed in here too but it's the end of the week and i'm too tired to find it)
October 17, 2025 at 9:18 PM
it's not living its best life, but please admire this tree snail's resilience clinging on to the exterior concrete stairwell of my university's central administration building
(there's probably a metaphor for current higher ed in here too but it's the end of the week and i'm too tired to find it)
(there's probably a metaphor for current higher ed in here too but it's the end of the week and i'm too tired to find it)
It wasn't just youthful foolishness that led me to hitchhike after the storm—there was no internet then to tell me to stay home, avoid the M25, watch this video of storm damage in Kent.
But it should have given me more pause walking past scenes like this on the way out of Brighton the next day.
But it should have given me more pause walking past scenes like this on the way out of Brighton the next day.
October 16, 2025 at 2:09 AM
It wasn't just youthful foolishness that led me to hitchhike after the storm—there was no internet then to tell me to stay home, avoid the M25, watch this video of storm damage in Kent.
But it should have given me more pause walking past scenes like this on the way out of Brighton the next day.
But it should have given me more pause walking past scenes like this on the way out of Brighton the next day.
was not expecting to find a London black taxi cab in Coral Gables this afternoon
October 11, 2025 at 11:26 PM
was not expecting to find a London black taxi cab in Coral Gables this afternoon
One of my weird dual citizen habits is to go to garden centres in Britain to check out the houseplants, to see which ones are the same as plants in our Miami garden—which is how I found out recently that snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata) is known as mother-in-law's tongue in Britain?! Bloody hell.
October 5, 2025 at 7:45 PM
One of my weird dual citizen habits is to go to garden centres in Britain to check out the houseplants, to see which ones are the same as plants in our Miami garden—which is how I found out recently that snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata) is known as mother-in-law's tongue in Britain?! Bloody hell.
i came of age to London Calling but now i'm all lost in the garden centre
September 24, 2025 at 2:55 PM
i came of age to London Calling but now i'm all lost in the garden centre
52 years old, still going strong (manufactured in England of all places)
September 23, 2025 at 12:15 AM
52 years old, still going strong (manufactured in England of all places)
Stereolab! at the Miami Beach Bandshell!
September 17, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Stereolab! at the Miami Beach Bandshell!
Truly, libraries are the living, beating heart of the university.
This week I saw library colleagues show students amazing documents and objects. I opened up a folder from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas papers and found this 1983 letter about Everglades restoration from Governor Bob Graham to MDS.
This week I saw library colleagues show students amazing documents and objects. I opened up a folder from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas papers and found this 1983 letter about Everglades restoration from Governor Bob Graham to MDS.
![Second page of a letter from Gov. Graham to Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Text reads:
Ms. Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Page Two
Additionally, I fully expect the District to begin the actual restoration of the Kissimmee River by early 1984. I want you to be there with me when the first shovel of dirt goes into the ditch.
Florida has been recognized throughout the nation for its courage and foresight in undertaking this ambitious program. You are to be commended for your intellectual and emotional contributions. You have set a standard of commitment that we will all strive to emulate.
I believe that with the support of Floridians like you, we will succeed in restoring the Everglades to its magnificent past.
With warm regards,
Sincerely,
[signature "Bob"]
Governor
BG/rkb](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:g5b7654wsshbq3ra6kins27s/bafkreicovx2dlnalc3tljvbxk7r5beg7vr3v24uo7z4rs434gmm3fiw3di@jpeg)
September 13, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Truly, libraries are the living, beating heart of the university.
This week I saw library colleagues show students amazing documents and objects. I opened up a folder from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas papers and found this 1983 letter about Everglades restoration from Governor Bob Graham to MDS.
This week I saw library colleagues show students amazing documents and objects. I opened up a folder from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas papers and found this 1983 letter about Everglades restoration from Governor Bob Graham to MDS.
In a strip mall in Little Havana, an installation titled "The Artist as Activist."
To remind us (me) that Miami contains multitudes.
To remind us (me) that Miami contains multitudes.
September 6, 2025 at 11:39 PM
In a strip mall in Little Havana, an installation titled "The Artist as Activist."
To remind us (me) that Miami contains multitudes.
To remind us (me) that Miami contains multitudes.
no, thank you, latest run of the GFS model for the middle of next week
August 19, 2025 at 1:59 AM
no, thank you, latest run of the GFS model for the middle of next week
On the day we're hearing about devastating cuts to humanities programs at Virginia Tech and U of Oregon, here's LinkedIn serving up some humanities hopium
August 19, 2025 at 12:32 AM
On the day we're hearing about devastating cuts to humanities programs at Virginia Tech and U of Oregon, here's LinkedIn serving up some humanities hopium
Hilariously, magically, and appropriately (given that I'm writing about them), a volunteer seedling mango tree has sprung up in the pot in which I planted some of the London Plane seedlings (presumably from a mango seed in the compost I added to the soil).
A global nano-forest on our patio.
A global nano-forest on our patio.
July 28, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Hilariously, magically, and appropriately (given that I'm writing about them), a volunteer seedling mango tree has sprung up in the pot in which I planted some of the London Plane seedlings (presumably from a mango seed in the compost I added to the soil).
A global nano-forest on our patio.
A global nano-forest on our patio.
shout out to Reuse Planet in Gainesville for being a generally awesome place to buy and to give just about everything, but also for refusing to accept "cursed items" as donations, so important in these cursed times
July 26, 2025 at 9:16 PM
shout out to Reuse Planet in Gainesville for being a generally awesome place to buy and to give just about everything, but also for refusing to accept "cursed items" as donations, so important in these cursed times