Midnight in a Sleepy City: The comic wildlife guide

My friend Kate and I use U2 concerts as an excuse to travel and see new cities. But earlier this summer the band had scheduled a couple of nights here in Washington, D.C., so we decided to spend the days before the first concert taking part in the fan-run general admission line. Fans show up […]

Urban Wilderness and the “High Line Problem”

In October of 2013, I toured three miles of disused railroad line in Philadelphia. Some of it was underground, some on ground level, and some elevated. All of it was covered in spontaneous vegetation—garden plants, common weeds, and native species, a wild, diverse hodgepodge of over 50 species alive with fungi and butterflies and ladybugs. […]