A hillside of once white tulips molder brown and gray on their stems.\u00a0 An occasional exotic bulb, survivor of years past, blooms scarlet or yellow among the wreckage.\u00a0 The Women\u2019s Gate entrance to the park is in colorless transition, after spring bulbs and before the roses.\u00a0 Elsewhere, wild pink geranium dominates, poking through the ferns at the Imagine Mosaic, and surrounding the tree at the crosswalk, where bicyclists, with increased frequency, stop for red lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other side of Daniel Webster, azalea have taken over, denser and more colorful the closer I get to Bethesda Fountain.\u00a0 People have lined up to take pictures in front of an 8-foot-tall blood red azelea; the approach to the stairs down to the fountain is more muted, with smaller bushes in salmon and white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My busking started slowly, with my first dollar recorded\nafter 14 minutes, from a young man off the bench. A slender mom, and her pre-teen son on a\nskateboard, stopped to listen. \u201cHave you\ngot time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt would have to be a short one,\u201d said mom. \u201cWe\u2019re on our way to ballet class. How about it?\u201d she said to the boy, who shook\nhis head emphatically no. \u201cWe do like\nyour ukulele,\u201d she said, and tossed 3 quarters in my case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A little girl of 6 or 7 was reluctant to hula, but her mom settled it by pushing her toward me.\u00a0 After putting a lei around her neck, I gave her a very short hula lesson, which consisted of raising her arms to form the horizon, then moving her arms to make the ocean waves.\u00a0 Keeping arms up is the hardest part for little kids, and this kid was no exception.\u00a0 Every 4 bars of the \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d her arms sank.\u00a0 Mom immediately put her own arms up and we were good again for another 4 bars.\u00a0 After the dance they walked away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A photographer gave me $2 for a picture.\u00a0 Then Carole, my park photographer friend of many years\u2019 standing, stopped to chat.\u00a0 She put a dollar in my case, as has become her custom the first time we meet each season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A small boy of 3 or 4 bipped and bopped to my music.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d\u00a0 There was no response; perhaps they didn\u2019t understand English.\u00a0 At the conclusion of my song, \u201cHonolulu Eyes,\u201d the dad gave the boy a dollar to put in my case, for a total of $9.15, including a 5-cent Euro coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The early totals this year, with earnings north of $20, were bound to plummet. Nine dollars is a fine day’s pay; no doubt I’ll have something to say about break-even ($2.70, round trip senior subway fare) before the season is over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"