Sue Lamberti is my friend and my flower angel. She has a small and beautiful florist shop right on the corner of Main Street in the downtown area, just across from a Hardware Store and a Pharmacy. She has a partner, Michael, who founded the flower shop with her. He is leaving his regular job to work in the shop all day.

Sue is an angel because she is my flower angel; she has been supplying many flowers I photograph when the weather is lousy, snowing, or poring, and I run out of fresh pictures to show.

She knows about my love of Calla Lilies. (Georgia O’Keeffe spelled it that way, and that’s good enough for me.) We have become friends, and she is precious, too—and it’s not just the flowers.

She doesn’t like to call me; she likes it better when I come in and look for something to bring back and photograph. She loves it when I am surprised, as I have been at the Callas all week, and she has mysteriously found and ordered for me. We laugh and joke almost daily, except when business slows, and she gets nervous. There are fewer and fewer of those days. Sometimes, I like to stop and say hello to her and Donna, her quiet but hard-working assistant. I don’t have a lot of friends up here, but she is one of them. She is my secret partner in flower photography.

She is sweet and loves her florist shop and every flower in it. She has become skilled at knowing what I like, and something excellent always seems to be there. For example, I found the orange Calli there today, a color I’ve never seen before but am happy to photograph, along with the background flowers I like to mix everything up with.

She works hard and taught me that being a florist is not simple. It’s a lot like being a writer, with ups and downs and a little predictable. Like Maria and her quilts, Sue loves her flowers and cares where they go. She loves reading the blog and seeing them there.

If anyone besides me is responsible for the best in my flowers, it’s Sue. I’ll get some photos of her tomorrow when I return to get the remaining three orange Callas. Sue lights up when I come into her store and spot them; she’s my official flower photo angel. It’s hard to imagine doing this work without her; she is just down the road from the farm. We have become great pals. She charges me the flowers, as she should, but she often throws another into the wrapping. She won’t let me pay for those. I will take her portrait tomorrow. She qualifies for a portrait picture. She is someone I respect and have come to love. Thanks, Sue.