On Thursday, after another week of rain, I got back to the park.\u00a0 In addition to the dog roses, which are going gangbusters, the stella d\u2019oro lillies are coming on strong; their scattered early orange blossoms, judging by the mass of the surrounding sun-seeking stems, will soon be thick with flowers.\u00a0 Above them waves a single Philadelphia fleabane, a tall weed, which the volunteer gardeners must have missed.\u00a0 Behind the button man, there is a newly planted plot of cleome.<\/p>\n
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A platoon troubadour at the Imagine Mosaic sang \u201cLucy in the Sky with Diamonds.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Next to a patch of still-producing hellebore are coral bells, one with deep claret leaves, almost black, another with rose and green leaves.\u00a0 At the road, under a giant pin oak, astilbe stalks have not yet revealed their color.\u00a0 Farther up the path, 2 catalpa trees are gowned in white florets.\u00a0 The petals are streaked with pink and stained yellow with pollen.\u00a0 Bean-like pods, having dangled from the bare branches all winter, will soon split, releasing their seeds before falling to the ground.<\/p>\n
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It is early June, and the Central Park Conservancy has taken over Bethesda Fountain again for its donors.\u00a0 I should have known.\u00a0 I\u2019ve written about it in posts for June almost every year.\u00a0 To check them out, click on any year in June, scroll to the bottom and click \u201colder entries.\u201d<\/p>\n
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As in past years, I went to the maple and played pretty much to myself.\u00a0 It was a sunny, cool day.\u00a0 I had a glorious view, in the distance, across the water, of the buildings along Central Park West, from The Majestic to The Museum of Natural History, while directly in front of me birds picked at the ripening fruit on the English mulberry tree.<\/p>\n
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An east side mom stopped under the mulberry to make a phone call.\u00a0 Her 2 children, a boy of 5 and a girl of 7, stared at me.\u00a0 \u201cWould you like to do a hula dance?\u201d<\/p>\n
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Without taking the phone from her ear, the mom said to her daughter, \u201cYou know how to hula dance.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I put leis on their necks, then off we went to the hukilau.\u00a0 The mom did her own hula from the other side of the path.\u00a0 \u201cYou want to join?\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s okay,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be the videographer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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At the end of the dance, she pulled out her wallet and announced, \u201cI\u2019m running out of money.\u00a0 Have you got change for a 20?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much do you want back?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me 10.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you very much,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cMahalo.\u201d\u00a0 So ended my set.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"