Posts Tagged ‘The Hukilau Song’
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Best Day of the Year
0June 3, 2016 by admin
The stella d’oro lilies have bloomed bright gold, with lantana and penstemon in the background. In the foreground, the park gardeners have planted out cleome and euphorbia. Red dog-roses are blooming in profusion behind the benches, while deeper in the park the dog-roses are in massive clumps of pink, and deep red garden roses send fat buds into the sky.
The road was lined with porta-potties from Royal Flush, for the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge run last night and tonight. As I got close to Bethesda Fountain, I could see giant bubbles floating high over the road toward Central Park South. The park was mobbed, auguring a good day.
Right off the bat, 2 sisters from Baton Rouge danced the hula. Shortly afterward, 2 women from Ohio put $6 in my case, then sat down to have their lunch. They sat there through the rest of my set.
A girl of 3 or 4, wearing a Minnie Mouse tee, walked slowly by with her mom, who pushed an empty stroller. “Hi, Minnie,” I said, “have you got time for a hula today?” She nodded yes; I looked up at her mom, who also nodded yes. So it was off again to the hukilau. The girl’s name was Sylvia, and after we were done, she handed the lei back to me and rejoined her mom. I watched as mom helped Sylvia dig through her pocketbook until they came up with a shiny quarter, which Sylvia gently placed among the few bills in my case.
A teenager walked by with his family, stopped to listen, then ran to catch up. A little while later he was back with a dollar.
Another toddler, this one 4-5 years old, came by with mom and dad. After her hula, mom and dad opened their wallets and conferred, finally handing me a bill for 5 Brazilian reals, worth approximately $1.40. “We have no US money,” mom said, “but there are many Brazilian people in New York.”
A group of rising high school freshmen from the Central Valley of California gathered nearby. A few kids did the hula, then a few more. Later, a few more, then a few more. Finally, the teacher did the hula. Each kid dropped some money, and the teacher dropped a fiver.
In the shade, where the path from the boathouse enters the fountain area, a group of adults gathered. They were still wearing their admission stickers for the Metropolitan Museum. One of them came forward with a fiver, followed by others with singles.
It was hot, and I’d emptied my water bottle, so even though I still had 10 minutes left, I started singing my closing number, “Little Grass Shack.” Just then, a young teen from Arizona wanted to hula; after the first verse of “The Hukilau Song,” her sister joined her. Dad, who was taking pictures, peeled a fiver off a wad of bills.
At the end of the day, I counted out $39.63, plus 5 reals, the best day of 2016.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: J.P.Morgan Corporate Challenge, My Little Grass Shack, The Hukilau Song
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Right Back out There
0May 30, 2016 by admin
It was 90 degrees on Thursday, more like August than May. The spring flowers were largely gone, while the dog-roses flourished in the heat. Green spears of day lilies have shot up from the lush foliage; they’ll soon be here.
The cowboy owned the fountain, so I walked toward the boathouse, not without trepidation. The caricaturist was setting up. And no sign of the chameleon. I might have set up in the shade of the maple, but I saw a place to the left of the staircase, under a bush for shade, and along the main path to the boat rental, water fountain and restrooms. I’ve played this stage many times over the years.
A young couple, both of them short and overweight, tossed in a pair of Susan B’s. They were from Maine. We had not chatted long before I had leis around their necks and we were hula-ing at the Hukilau. There was something sweet and childlike about them, I thought they might be newlyweds. After the dance, the young man put a folding dollar in the case too.
Three cyclists stopped near me in the shade. They were from Argentina. “Have you got time for a hula today?” Only one of them spoke English. Straddling her bike, she watched, a little bored, as her mother and sister danced to “The Hukilau Song.” When they returned their leis and rode away, she tossed a dollar in my case.
A young woman walked briskly by and floated a fiver my way. “Thanks a lot,” I said, happy to have shed the curse of the chameleon.
An old man shuffled past, accompanied by a young man, as I was singing “Honolulu Baby.” The young man held back to listen. “Do you know this song.”
“Never heard it before. But I love the way you sing it.”
“It’s from a Laurel and Hardy movie, ‘Sons of the Desert.’ Ever hear of Laurel and Hardy?”
He thought for a moment. His eyes darted down the path, to where the old man had slowly made his way. “I think I have,” he said, “Gotta go.”
Another young man sauntered by, took a dollar out of his wallet, and set up for a selfie of himself and me. “Snapchat,” he said.
The old man’s aid walked back to me and gave me a buck. “What was that movie? King of the Desert?”
“Sons of the Desert.”
I ended the set with a lovely hula by a Lebanese woman living in Cambridge, who kicked in another fiver to bring my take to a respectable $17.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Honolulu Baby, Laurel and Hardy, Sons of the Desert, The Hukilau Song
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A Gray Tuesday
0May 18, 2016 by admin
The day was cool and gray. The only color at the entrance to the park came from the English daisies, tucked into a corner, and the pink and white bleeding heart, near the pergola. Solomon’s Seal grew in clumps at the Imagine Mosaic, and the streamlined orange columbine flowers balanced precariously on slender stalks. A cluster of 6-petaled purple flowers with bright yellow stamens, new to me, brightened up the pathway. The abundant chestnut flowers were tinged with pink, and on Cherry Hill a huge tree covered in purple blossoms had started to drop its flowers on the lawn. A park employee, designated a Discovery Guide, later identified it as a Royal Paulownia.
The Chinese man was sawing away on his 1-string instument by the fountain to the south, and the cowboy was at the path to the east. I walked toward the boathouse, only to find the doo-wop quartet and bass fiddle at the intersection of paths, so I headed back to the fountain and waited for the cowboy to finish.
A young man started me off with $2. Another man gave me a dollar and then took several photos. Next it was the women’s turn, with a dollar from a passing lady and a quarter from another. That did it for donations, although I had several hula dancers.
The first dancer was from NYC. She waved her arms lazily, while her friends, barely amused, stood by chatting among themselves. I didn’t even get to the end of the first verse of “The Hukilau Song” before she took off her lei and handed it back.
The second dancers were a mixed group, two 20-something girls from Los Angeles and Seattle, and a 20-something boy from Israel. Theirs was a vigorous hula, with lots of spinning, hoots and hollers. At the end of the second verse, they gathered up their backpacks and walked off in search of new adventures. My set over, I did the same.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: The Hukilau Song
