‘Uncategorized’ Category
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A Rare Friday
0August 23, 2016 by admin
I went to the park on Friday, a rare occurrence for me, but the day was too fine to let pass. Except for the soldiering roses, the plantings were lush and deep August green. As I walked through Strawberry Fields, I heard a trumpet in the distance. Walking closer, I picked up the sound of more instruments. It was the jazz trio playing “Pennies from Heaven” across the road from Daniel Webster. The Boyd Family sang sacred music in the arcade; I sang strictly secular on center stage.
Two little Spanish girls walked up, each with a quarter in her hand. They danced a halting hula, turning from time to time to their parents far away, then back, giggling, to each other.
An expensively put-together woman in her 50’s found a dollar in her purse for me.
A short distance to my right, a long-legged model posed for a photographer and his 2 assistants. One of the assistants was swaying to “Honolulu Eyes.” She turned to see me watching, stopped in embarrassment, turned away, then started swaying again. They finished shooting about the same time I finished singing. “Have you got time for a real hula?” I asked the assistant, waving a lei at her.
“Go ahead,” said the photographer. He even took a few snaps of her going to the hukilau. When she gave me a dollar, he pulled out a dollar too. I lifted an eyebrow to the model, but she demurred.
With about 30 minutes left in my set, the ballerina came by with her gym bag, white face and bun. She stretched ostentatiously as she waited for me to leave. I ignored her, and did not leave. After another song, she did.
A family walked by. Dad gave the elder of two a dollar for me. I’ve observed many a child taught to tip the busker this way.
A family of Canadians came by. They were from Alberta, loved New York, and loved my music $2 USD worth.
I counted out $7.50 for the day. On my way out of the park, the cold water man gave me a thumbs-up, a reminder that it’s not about the money. “Aloha.”
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Honolulu Eyes, Pennies from Heaven
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“I Don’t, but Ashley Does.”
0August 19, 2016 by admin
“What a beautiful day for fishin’.” Temps in the 80’s, humidity low, puffy white clouds scudding across the clear blue sky. I took a seat at the fountain and waited until the cowboy finished. I began with “The Hukilau Song.”
Two little French girls put on leis and waggled through a verse. Each one handed me a dollar. After a few more songs, a woman got up off the bench and tossed a buck in my case. “I truly felt as if I was there,” she said.
A photographer captured most of “Tip Toe through the Tulips.” After putting his camera away and hoisting the case over his shoulders, he stopped by with a dollar.
A half dozen teen-aged girls came down the path. “Have you got time for a hula today?”
One girl tried to drum up interest, but got no takers. “Well, I want to dance,” she said.
“What say we go to the hukilau?” I said.
“I know that one.” She danced using all the movements she’d learned in elementary school on Oahu. Barely 5 feet tall, with flowing black hair and pudgy cheeks, she attracted a crowd. I brought the dance to a close, she bowed to scattered applause, returned the lei and walked away.
A 15-year-old girl, who’d been watching from the bench, gave me a dollar. Two sisters stopped to put a dollar in my case. I invited them to hula, but only one took me up on it.
With a short time left in my set, Maggie the dog, and her owner, Marcel, stopped to say hello. This was the first time out for them in over a week.
“Have you got time for a hula today?” I addressed a couple of college girls, who, accompanied by an older woman, were wonderingly taking in the circus atmosphere at the fountain.
“I don’t, but Ashley does.” I waved a lei at Ashley, who put down her backpack and made ready to dance. This time, we skipped the hukilau and went back to “My Little Grass Shack.”
The presumptive mom found a fiver in her wallet and handed it to me. “We’re from Chicago,” she said, “and having a wonderful time.”
Category Uncategorized | Tags: My Little Grass Shack, The Hukilau Song, Tiptoe through the Tulips
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The Evening Show
0August 10, 2016 by admin
The cowboy looked at his watch. “One more number,” he told me. I set up, tuned softly and waited by the fountain through an interminable “Horse with No Name.” Finally, with a fade-out, the cowboy said to the passing crowd, “That’s it for the morning show. The evening show is about to begin.” It was a few minutes after noon.
A lady, who had been listening from the benches, gave me the first dollar of the day. Shortly after, 2 college-age girls from Taiwan found time to hula. They were bright and energetic, and quite impressed that not only had I heard of Taiwan, I used to know it as Formosa.
A 40-something Mexican woman caught my eye. “Have you got time for a hula today?” Reluctantly, she accepted the lei I put around her neck. “Do you know how to hula?”
“Like this?” she said, waving her arms hip-high and waggling her fingers.
“Perfect,” I said, throwing myself into “The Hukilau Song.” With a wry smile, the woman raised her arms higher, quieted her fingers, swayed her hips, and danced a beautifully restrained hula. “You’ve done this before,” I said. She winked. I picked up the tempo for the second verse.
A thin blonde, in a ponytail and baseball cap, threw a crumpled fiver into my case as she strode by. “You made me smile,” she said.
It was a hot day. As the sun rose higher, people who had sought the benches for the shade moved on. A few of them came by to show their appreciation.
A family of 4 from Florida toddled by, mom pushing an empty stroller. Dad had given each child a quarter, with instructions. I stepped back and let the kids complete their task. “Now how about a hula dance?”
“How about it?” said mom, taking a lei from me. I put leis on the little girls, perhaps 3 and 6 years old, and picked up a lei for dad. “How about it?” mom repeated. They danced joyfully en famille.
After exactly 90 minutes, I packed up quickly, counted my money and got out of the sun. I made $15.60; the quarters came from the little girls, and the dime I missed from yesterday.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Horse with No Name, The Hukilau Song
