It poured all Wednesday morning, but around 11:30 the sun peeked out, promising a steamy, rain-free afternoon.\u00a0 At the Women\u2019s Gate, vines prospered.\u00a0 Tangles wound around the fencing, morning glory reached out of the undergrowth, and wisteria launched itself from the pergola all the way to the pavement.\u00a0 The only song at the Imagine Mosaic was sung by cicadas in search of a mate.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
No guitarists today, no jazz combo, no acrobats.\u00a0 What do they know that I don\u2019t know?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At Bethesda Fountain, no cowboy, no accordion, no erhu.\u00a0 What do I know that they don\u2019t know?\u00a0 I know that the ukulele is a happy instrument, that the hula is a happy dance, and that singing my heart out makes me happy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I opened my set with the usual tunes, and before long a Spanish woman with a bicycle group dismounted and danced the hula, after which she gave me $1.25.\u00a0 A thick-necked bruiser of a boy added another buck.\u00a0 An assortment of walkers dropped change.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A dad with a baby stroller rolled up and parked in front of me.\u00a0 He wife and daughter were out on a boat while he stayed with his young son.\u00a0 He lived in Israel now, but spent the first 25 years of his life in New York; his wife was from Minnesota.\u00a0 They were in the lady\u2019s underwear business.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At the end of my set black clouds started rolling in from the southwest.\u00a0 I counted up $7.64, then headed for the subway; I got there just as the storm broke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"