Joel Achenbach

I haven't been reading Joel's blog at the Washington Post much lately, but today...the last few days' postings are a feast.
Oh, the writing. Don't miss the backyard/garage/garden/weeds discourse (My Farm Journal):

This is a time when the yard can be made to look well tended, even though it contains the seeds of weedy chaos and madness. The vines are getting ready to pounce. If you hear me whistling in my yard it is because the weeds make me nervous. They can be so stealthy in May, coiled to strike.

And the next posting, Gator Country, on a trip to Miami and the Glades:

In Miami a person must head to the swamp for relief from the urban jangle. Miami is fabulous and fun, but there are too many people crammed into too small a space. Complications ensue. Mutations. Maladaptations.
...The nice thing about Nature in South Florida is that it's cordoned off. The dividing line between civilization and Nature is typically a canal....

For more on the gator question, see Carl Hiaasen: Gator Panic Sweeps South Florida. Sounds like a good topic for Carl's next book.