For the third day in a row, I went a-busking.\u00a0 It was another hot one, although slightly less humid.\u00a0 At the entrance to the park, a second blooming of stella d\u2019oro has added yellow to the purple and pink palette behind the benches at 72nd St.\u00a0 The guitarist at the Imagine Mosaic sang \u201cImagine.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Although Colin told me he’d only be another 15 minutes, I went directly to the shade of the maple, and stayed there.\u00a0 A few songs into my set, a tour guide leading about 25 people stopped near me.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got an Elvis group here from England, can you play \u2018Blue Hawaii\u2019 for them?\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cI don’t know that one, but how about the Hawaiian Wedding Song?\u00a0 That\u2019s Elvis.\u201d\u00a0 I struggled through the first 8 bars, then found the tune and rocked through to the end:\u00a0 G (I do love), A7 (you with), D7 (all my), G (heart).\u00a0 The guide looked pleased; he flashed a thumbs-up and a conspiratorial grin as a few people tossed me dollars.\u00a0 When he turned and started to lead the group away, a few more dollars flowed my way.<\/p>\n
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A photographer from Paris gave me a buck for picture.\u00a0 Soon after another group from France came by.\u00a0 We tried to get a hula going.\u00a0 The leader hurried everyone along, but not before another $3 was added to the pile of singles in my case.<\/p>\n
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A 20-something couple passed by, each adding another dollar.\u00a0 At the end of my set I pocketed $12.25, my best day of the week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"