...and this is why:

the story begins several weeks ago with an exacting client, a tough shoot. our first concepting meeting with them long and arduous, B and I decided to stop at a cute little corner spot offering wine and beer. we befriended the sweet jolly funny bartender until 'joey' arrived and everything changed. he walked in behind the bar and started giving shit to our new buddy. in true leslie form, i chimed in to our new buddy's defense and got some true belly laughs out of EVERYone except joey. oops - we went home fairly quickly after that.

fast forward to yesterday. that tough shoot completed (phew!) B convinced me to stop at the same spot for a celebratory beer on the way home. and of course joey was the only one behind the bar when we arrived. ahem. then that young handsome co-owner of the bar named joey gave us the 'don't mess with me' look - oy - he remembered. but again in true leslie form i just charged ahead with friendly chattiness until he asked us what we did for a living...i explained what we did, where we had just been...his cards still close to his chest but a glint in his eye, he asked me what i shot with and when i answered with "i'm a nikon girl" he burst open with the most genuine smile. he went on to explain that he shoots with a D3 (a D3 people!) and we talked endlessly of lenses and such. i told him that i'd rather give him my money to try out lenses than any lens rental service and that's when he said....
"i won't take your money,
if i can help out a photographer that's enough for me,
i'll email you a list of my lenses tomorrow
and you can borrow them anytime you want."
and then he wouldn't let us pay for our beer.

and i was reminded yet again of serendipity, and fate, and the power of a really good genuine smile.