When I was young, I used to dream about having a garden where there would be multiple sections: one section would have all my roses, another section would have all my bulbed perennials (lilies, tulips, and the like), and a last small section would have little herbs and vegetables. Sprinkled throughout the garden would be fruit trees. I had no idea where this imaginary garden would be in the world, but that was my little gardening fantasy.

Well, fast forward several decades later, and here I am in New York City, with no front or backyard. The two living plants that are in our apartment are on the window sill in the kitchen. One is a spider plant that had been propagated from a friend’s fruitful spider plant. The second plant is an aloe vera that was gifted to us as part of a gift package when Kaia was born. And now, we have two more plants: two tiny succulents that came as part of a do-it-yourself terrarium set that my manager designated a virtual team building event today!

I will admit: I was a little happy to do this activity even though we were all virtual. It’s fun to do things that require a certain level of creativity, even if we are not all together in the same physical space. and the end product does look quite attractive. I have it displayed now on the window sill in the second bedroom by Kaia’s bed. The plants I actually do have today are a far cry from the vision I had as a child, but they do still make me happy and bring extra life and brightness into the apartment.