smiles that fertilize

i left my studio on this particular evening, and i was looking with a certain intensity for a portrait. it was a wednesday, the night my wife goes to yoga; it is just me and the little girls at home. if i don't get a portrait before i pick up the little ones, i am destined to go through the sometimes grueling task of finding a nighttime portrait. so, i spotted this young girl through the thick summer growth of the community garden that she helps tend, and i knew i had to pull the trigger. as i approached her, i could see the slight tint of panic in her eyes... but, she seemed harmless. i continued approaching, and i delivered my pitch as i had done over one hundred times before. she threw a couple of bones my way to try to get me to fetch them and leave; i wasn't leaving... i felt that she was ready to accept me as a harmless guy who just happened to be involved in a slightly creepy practice of approaching strangers and asking to photograph them. soon we were to discover that she knows my sister, and she settled in to talking about all sorts of things, and grew more and more comfortable with me... so much so, that when i left, she cut flowers for me to give my wife and children (i had told her that i was about to celebrate an anniversary.) for her services, i helped her diagnose an issue that she was having with a tire on her car... too much air pressure. it was a wonderful spontaneous moment on a beautiful sunny summer day surrounded by sunflowers; it was like a tiny slice of magic inserted into a routine day. what a generous project this is.