A potted plant is the subject of today's big Globe story. It's true. On a day when the Big Dig tunnel collapse is the big news everywhere else, the Globe dedicates most of its (one star) front page real estate to a story about a cactus.

"It's kind of touching to watch the plant put forth this effort," said Frans Lawaetz, a freelance technology consultant who has been renting the apartment and taking care of the agave since last fall. "The plant is doing so much at the end of its life. It's running out of steam; it has done enough."

Has the Globe site been hacked? Is this a parody?