SEATTLE – Noting that it could really add some life to her apartment, real estate lawyer Sara Peterson, 31, announced she was ready to give owning a houseplant another shot.
“I’m gonna do everything I can this time to make sure it thrives,” Peterson said, reminding herself to not throw out the little instructional tag sticking in the pot. “Last time I’m pretty sure I over-watered it, and the time before that I didn’t water it enough.”
“After twelve hours of work, I’m just too exhausted to sit down and learn about how much water it needs,” she added. “Maybe I could get a fern. Those are pretty hard to kill, right?”
Peterson went on to explain that owning a plant seemed to be the simplest way to maintain even the smallest semblance of a life that existed outside her job. “It’s therapeutic for me,” she said. “Looking at a nice green plant helps me remember that life is so short, and that it’s okay to put work aside every once in a while to enjoy it.”
At press time, Peterson was on the phone with her grandmother, trying to figure out why her fern had died.
