My Black to Green Thumb

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Suzette Standring

SUZETTE MARTINEZ STANDRING has been a published columnist since 1997, and nationally syndicated (2007-2021). Her two award winning books, The Art of Opinion Writing (2014) and The Art of Column Writing (2008) are used in journalism courses such as Johns Hopkins University. Suzette is a past president of The National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and the host of It’s All Write With Suzette, a cable TV show about writing. Visit www.readsuzette.com or email suzmar@comcast.net

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Latest posts by Suzette Standring (see all)

• Suzette’s Cancer Journey - September 8, 2023
• My Black to Green Thumb - March 15, 2023
• Suzette and her three husbands by Suzette Standring - March 4, 2023

For years I prided myself on my Black Thumb, the inability to grow green things. There were benefits. It meant no fuss, water stains, and dead leaves. Then my unexpected Green Thumb, developed over the pandemic, filled my home with unexpected energy. Many of you already know this, so forgive my wide-eyed, toddler-type discovery. Plants are breathing, living beings. Morning upon morning, Ithey greet me with glossy foliage. I create a place for myself in the natural world. 

Plants are an antidote to technology. More and more we bow to machines aimed to make life easier. But maintaining material stuff sucks up time; fixing, the maintenance, updating.  But plants just grow, and the love they breathe back cleanses my air. I started with cactus and succulents, and then pothos and spider plants. Then I rescued sturdy survivors from the discount shelf at Home Depot.  Now I go from room to room, saying, “Hey, kids!  Who needs what today?”  And a little drink of water returns to me one hundred-fold.