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.
A mere 200 yards away from the grotesque celebration of the Spanish Navy's conquest of America, inside the Pérez Art Museum Miami across the park, is Hew Locke's amazing piece "For Those in Peril on the Sea," a collection of water craft representing the labor and the losses of ocean passages.
November 25, 2025 at 1:42 AM
A mere 200 yards away from the grotesque celebration of the Spanish Navy's conquest of America, inside the Pérez Art Museum Miami across the park, is Hew Locke's amazing piece "For Those in Peril on the Sea," a collection of water craft representing the labor and the losses of ocean passages.
Today I learned that a downtown Miami park has a large monument "dedicated to the discovery of America by the Spanish Navy". It's 2025! The "discovery of America"?! WTF, Miami!
(This park was completely rebuilt and renovated about 12 years ago when the PAMM art museum was built there).
(This park was completely rebuilt and renovated about 12 years ago when the PAMM art museum was built there).
November 25, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Today I learned that a downtown Miami park has a large monument "dedicated to the discovery of America by the Spanish Navy". It's 2025! The "discovery of America"?! WTF, Miami!
(This park was completely rebuilt and renovated about 12 years ago when the PAMM art museum was built there).
(This park was completely rebuilt and renovated about 12 years ago when the PAMM art museum was built there).
This year, to save me from tears,
I'll give it to someone special (special)
I'll give it to someone special (special)
November 23, 2025 at 4:13 AM
This year, to save me from tears,
I'll give it to someone special (special)
I'll give it to someone special (special)
look at this beautiful map of the Metrorail we might have had: the People's Transportation Plan of 2002, which led to county voters approving a sales tax increase to fund mass transit. (Map by Jake Berman of 53 Studio.)
November 17, 2025 at 8:03 PM
look at this beautiful map of the Metrorail we might have had: the People's Transportation Plan of 2002, which led to county voters approving a sales tax increase to fund mass transit. (Map by Jake Berman of 53 Studio.)
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