With the temperature north of ninety degrees, I headed straight for the shade of the maple.\u00a0 A cooling breeze blew off the water.\u00a0 Not long after starting my set, a half dozen 4-5 year-olds, in bright orange tee shirts, walked by with two women who appeared to be more east side socialites than day camp counsellors.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHow about it, kids, have we got time?\u201d\u00a0 All but one kid was up for it.\u00a0 I handed out leis, and draped a lei on the fence in case the one dissenter changed her mind.\u00a0 For first time hula dancers the kids did great, although halfway through the second verse of “The Hukilau Song” their arms drooped and 2 of them barely moved at all.\u00a0 Afterward, I collected the leis from the kids, and a fiver from one of the women.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Two 20-somethings walked by, stopped, and returned to toss 2 singles in my case.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Coming down the path from Bethesda Fountain was a crew of cameramen, sound technicians, 2 directors and a well-dressed woman with a clipboard.\u00a0 In the center of this gaggle was a tall, bearded man in a sleeveless vest, carrying a guitar.\u00a0 His name was Elias, I was told, a wrestler with the WWE.\u00a0 Could I play a scene with him?\u00a0 All I had to do was tell him that his music sucked, after which he would trash-talk me and tell the cameras where he was performing next.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elias and I ad libbed through 3 takes, after which the woman with the clipboard donned a lei and danced the hula.\u00a0 A large crowd gathered to watch, and between takes the directors studied the contents of my case, without adding anything to it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After filming me, Elias and his entourage moved on to the rowboats and filmed on the lake.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Toward the end of my set, one of 2 girls walking by put a buck in my case, and during my final number, \u201cLittle Grass Shack,\u201d an elderly woman holding a preteen boy by the hand, stopped to ask me where was the pond where they sailed boats.\u00a0 \u201cI used to live in Maui,\u201d she offered, after I gave her directions.\u00a0 \u201cYou?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, although I\u2019ve been there.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI really like your music,\u201d she said, and she pulled out $2 dollars and handed it to the boy to give to me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cMahalo.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I counted out $10.\u00a0 The shade under the maple notwithstanding, it was hot, and the forecast for tomorrow was hotter still.\u00a0 I hoisted my uke onto my back and turned for home just as a man in a red MAGA hat walked by.\u00a0 I wondered if he felt the heat yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"