What were vivid pink tulips have faded to mauve and the once-spectacular fritillaria, now a scraggly stalk and crown, stands high above the ground cover with nothing to show.\u00a0 Bleeding heart and something like a bottle brush shrub fill out behind the benches.\u00a0 Wisteria blooms behind the north pergola; it\u2019s thrown itself over the wall toward the bridal path below.\u00a0 Just past the Information Booth, a patch of white trillium has appeared, and, following the path to Cherry Hill, another trillium, this one wine red, has bloomed in the deep shade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chestnuts trees in Strawberry Fields are covered with flowers, pointing heavenward like candles on a Christmas tree.\u00a0 I spotted a bearded oak for the first time (who knew?).\u00a0 Sakura cherry trees carpet the lawns beneath them with pink petals, each, according to Japanese lore, the soul of a samurai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Italian accordion player sat on the southern rim of the fountain; I set up at the east-northeast, where I could still hear when I wasn\u2019t playing.\u00a0 So I played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bethesda Fountain was not very busy.\u00a0 After 15 minutes, a couple off the bench gave me a dollar.\u00a0 A family from Vienna stopped to listen; Vater sent his 5-year-old daughter, Lillianne, to me with 3 quarters.\u00a0 I directed her to my case, and picked up a lei for her.\u00a0 \u201cWilst du tanzen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lillianne would not tanz, but the next little girl, she from\nFrance, gave it a try, for which I got a dollar. Passersby helped fill the case, especially a\nnumber of teenagers who tossed in coins. \nA couple who had been sitting near me at the fountain, gave me $2 when\nthey got up to leave. A Chinese woman took\nmy picture and placed a dollar and change in my case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As it got later, lunch over, the crowd thinned.\u00a0 I took the opportunity to try out a new song, \u201cNorth Dakota, South Dakota,\u201d which I\u2019d worked out over the winter after hearing Jerry Lewis sing it.\u00a0 As I finished, a man of 50 or so walked briskly past me.\u00a0 \u201cBet you never heard that one before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He kept walking, then turned and came back. \u201cGotta tip the busker,\u201d he said, reaching for\nhis wallet. He was from Atlanta and\nplayed the trumpet, but couldn\u2019t make a living at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About this time a scraggly old man with a radio playing loud\nlatin music walked into the plaza and sat down near the lake. I wanted to ask him to turn it down, but\ndecided that if he hadn\u2019t thought of that himself, there was a chance he was as\ncrazy as he looked. The accordion was\ngone, so I moved away from him for the last 30 minutes of my session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five teenagers were sitting on the bench, chatting, playing with their phones, and occasionally standing up to dance to my music.\u00a0 They eventually made their way to me.\u00a0 The leaders were a slight, tattooed girl from Romania, and a heavier girl from Indiana.\u00a0 I turned to greet a short, clean-cut boy from Montenegro and a tall blonde boy from Latvia.\u00a0 The last kid was from Indiana too.\u00a0 At the end of the dance, everyone put something in my case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While singing my final number, \u201cLittle Grass Shack,\u201d a 30-something threw money in my case and said, \u201cToo bad you were drowned out by the radio. I much prefer live music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow about you and me take care of that guy?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, I\u2019m a peaceful man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe too,\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s\nall about aloha.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"