{"id":1034,"date":"2018-06-13T15:44:08","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T19:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/?p=1034"},"modified":"2018-06-13T15:47:14","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T19:47:14","slug":"the-difference-a-dime-makes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/?p=1034","title":{"rendered":"The Difference a Dime Makes"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 72nd<\/sup> St. it was the same show as last week.\u00a0 Only the workhorse red and pink dog roses provided color on the ground; in the air, dogwood flowers fluttered white as clouds.\u00a0 Except for a random stella and a couple of yellow foxglove, the park was undergoing June death, or, if not quite death, then June coma, when spring sputters out and nature takes a breather before full-blown summer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The clover heads in the lawn surrounding Daniel Webster were white and shriveled.\u00a0 \u201cLook at that, Daddy,\u201d said a boy of about 10.\u00a0 Birds had built a nest in the crook of Webster\u2019s arm.\u00a0 The glorious catalpa trees were a mess; browning petals dripped like candle wax onto the leaves below.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Forget Bethesda Fountain.\u00a0 The acrobats had moved their act down from the promenade.\u00a0 Music blared.\u00a0 One of the acrobats was warming up the audience with gansta-style shtick, getting them to call out and clap with him.\u00a0 Colin the cowboy was packing up.\u00a0 I kept walking, first to the maple, where a caricaturist had set up, then to Location C, on the path across from the boat rental booth, in the shade of some tall bushes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After a slow start, 2 toddlers, aged 2 and 3, stopped to dance the hula.\u00a0 Crowds gathered to soak up the cuteness, then dispersed at the end of \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d\u00a0 Dad gave me $2.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A kid of 7 or 8 got a quarter from his father and gave it to me.\u00a0 A little later a 20-something threw in another quarter.\u00a0 I was thinking about my breakeven when a 60-something woman came out of nowhere with a tightly crumpled single for me.\u00a0 A gentleman emptied his pocket of change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A 40-something woman ran up and started picking out a lei.\u00a0 She put a dollar in my case and asked for a photo.\u00a0 Her husband or boyfriend took the picture; she hated it.\u00a0 \u201cMy nose is all lit up.\u201d\u00a0 He took another that she didn\u2019t like either.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe I just don\u2019t like the way I look.\u201d \u00a0I put my hat on her head to shade her nose; this one was a keeper.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNow a hula dance,\u201d she said, and off we went to the hukilau.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Near the end of my set a young man dumped a fistful change into my case.\u00a0 \u201cNice job.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I counted out $6.93, happy with my haul.\u00a0 Then I spotted a dime, hiding in the felt creases of my case, and was thrilled to cross into 7 dollar territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 72nd St. it was the same show as last week.\u00a0 Only the workhorse red and pink dog roses provided …
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