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Vaarwel
0October 3, 2017 by admin
Another cool autumn day brought me back to the park. A begging Buddhist stood in front of the wood anemone, so no score today. Glancing south, I saw the sprinklers hard at work on the open field; and farther south, three cranes lifted 3 towers ever higher in the sky, contributing to the dwarfing of Central Park South.
At Bethesda Fountain, the cowboy sang “Just the Way You Are” (Billy Joel, 1977), including backup singers and a horn solo. When he sat down, I stood up and soon got a 51-cent donation from a man off the bench.
“Have you got time for a hula today?” I asked 2 hand-holding men. One, the elder, perhaps in his 40s, had wavy blonde hair and made me guess where they were from. “Amsterdam,” I got it on the 3rd try. They walked off, but came back later and gave me a 10 Euro bill, which I bought from myself for $12.
While conducting this foreign exchange, a young man walking by gave me a dollar, and a couple who had been listening on the bench did the same.
Three Norwegian children, who had ridden into the fountain area with their parents, got off their bikes and wandered my way. It didn’t take long to get leis around their necks and to get them dancing to “The Hukilau Song.” While we danced, another bench listener came forward with 85 cents.
A tall black woman from Toronto danced a tentative hula, then walked away. Two separate Hawaiians walked away too. The man, a transplant from New Jersey, took out his wallet and waved his driver’s license at me. The woman was native, danced a perfect hula to “The Hukilau Song,” then ran off to catch up with her friends.
A mid-teen and her mom stopped to listen. “I have 4 ukes,” the girl told me. They were from Dallas. I handed her my uke and she strummed out a sweet song.
“Stay with it,” I advised. Her mom nodded assent. “When you think you’re ready, quit school, hit the road…”
“Stop talking,” said mom.
“…and make your living…”
“Don’t listen.”
“…like me.”
At the end of my set, a woman came off the bench with $2. She and her husband had been observing. An American, she lived in The Hague, and got back as often as possible. The Netherlands had contributed 14 of the $19.63 in my case, so instead of “Aloha,” I said, “Vaarwel.”
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Just the Way You Are, The Hukilau Song
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Awesome Autumn Friday
0October 2, 2017 by admin
Friday was a gorgeous autumn day. The platoon guitarist at the Imagine Mosaic played “My Sweet Lord.” It appeared that the honey bees, like me, were counting the wood anemone flowers (26-40). I checked in on the junior league of plants under the tree by the road, to count a total of 7 flowers among 3 groupings. Near Daniel Webster, the helicopter seeds from a maple tree hit me in the hat.
A young Swiss couple relaxed by the fountain as I set up. We chatted briefly, then I stood to play. When they stood to leave, they gave me a fiver.
Three Israelis enjoyed watching a fourth roll up his pant legs and wade into the fountain. He had thrown his cell phone into the water to prove it was waterproof. When he got out I invited him to hula. “You seem to be up for anything,” I said. He was; and so were his jeering friends when I challenged them to dance a better hula, if they could. When we finished with “The Hukilau Song,” the first Israeli gave me $2.
A man with his wife and dog listened on the bench for a while. Finally, he walked up to me and gave me $3. His name was Jim and he lived on the upper east side. “You’re really good,” he told me. “No, really, I’m going to have my friends meet me here from now on.”
A young girl pushed a stroller past me and threw a penny in my case. “Thanks,” I said. There’s a mean streak in all of us. She joined up with her family, who were taking pictures by the fountain. When they moved on, the girl, for reasons of her own, gave me 2 singles.
Two 20-something women from Taiwan danced the hula, then walked away.
A foursome of women gathered nearby. One of them broke from the pack and floated a dollar into my case, without interrupting the flow of her lively conversation.
A surfer dude sat on the bench with his girlfriend. He seemed to enjoy the show; when I sat down at the end of my set, he approached with 2 bucks in his hand. “Thanks a lot,” I said, stuffing the bills into my pocket with the $14.01 I already had there.
“No, man, thank you. You’re awesome.”
Category Uncategorized | Tags: My Sweet Lord, The Hukilau Song
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Underneath a Hot September Sky
0September 28, 2017 by admin
When I stopped to count the wood anemone (24-32), sweat had already started forming on my arms, and dripping into my eyes. At Bethesda Fountain, standing out in the sun and playing for the people on the benches in the shade, I wondered if I might be a little nuts.
A Swedish couple came forward and gave me a fiver. “Thank you,” said the man, “that was a lot of fun.”
“We really enjoyed it,” said the woman. Me too.
A woman from El Salvador wanted to take a picture with me. I put a lei around her neck; she gave me a dollar. Another woman gestured at the leis draped over my case. I thought she wanted to dance. “No, she doesn’t want to hula,” said the man she was with. “How much?”
I hesitated, since I usually don’t sell my leis. “Three dollars.”
He hesitated, then gave me the money.
I was so happy to see Marcel and his scotch terrier, Maggie, stroll down the path and head toward me. Marcel’s wife, Sue, was with him. For many years, Marcel walked Maggie in the park and, if I was busking, Maggie would plop down in front of me and listen. When that happened, more people stopped to admire Maggie than they did to hear me perform.
I grabbed Marcel’s hand and shook it. “I haven’t seen you all summer,” I said.
“He had a stroke,” said Sue.
“You look great, you walk and talk just fine.”
“My eyes were effected,” he said, shrugging. “I go to PT. I’m feeling much better.”
He asked about Agnes, my granddaughter; I’d shown him pictures of her when she was born last year.
“We better keep going,” said Sue. “The heat is bothering the dog.”
A girl on a bicycle rode up with her friend, and, without dismounting, threw a dollar in my case.
“Have you got time for a hula today?”
“Where’s the nearest bathroom?” I pointed toward the arcade. “We’ll come back for a hula,” she said, and she did. They were from California. “We’re having a great time in New York,” she said.
A 50-ish couple from Vancouver stopped to donate $2 and chat. They had a place in Hawaii; he had just bought himself a tenor uke. I handed him mine, and he strummed out a few chords. “You know what I think?” he said, handing the uke back to me. “I think you’re the most relaxed man in New York.”
The heat and humidity were getting to me. All the water in my thermos was gone, leaving a few ice cubes rattling around. I’d decided to pack it in when a little girl of 12-14 months, holding her dad’s hand, toddled up to me. “You want to dance?”
She moved her head in a way her dad interpreted as affirmative. I put the infant lei over her head, played the chorus and one verse of “The Hukilau Song,” took a buck from her dad and sat down. My shirt was soaked through, and my leg burned from a spot I missed with sun screen. I’d let the little girl toddle off with my lei.
I put $13 in my pocket. Macadamia nuts?
Category Uncategorized | Tags: The Hukilau Song
