{"id":1143,"date":"2019-06-05T12:15:31","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T16:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/?p=1143"},"modified":"2019-06-08T18:56:22","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T22:56:22","slug":"rich-gotta-eat-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/?p=1143","title":{"rendered":"Rich Gotta Eat Too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the 3 weeks since I last visited Central Park, the spent\nflowers have been grubbed up.&nbsp; Along Central\nPark West, the only color comes from the tiny white blooms of Philadelphia Fleabane.&nbsp; Behind the benches at W. 72<sup>nd<\/sup> St.,\nthe \u201cdogs\u201d dominate, i.e., pink dog roses and creamy dogwood.&nbsp; The dogwood extends across the road to the\nImagine Mosaic, with a smattering of colorless astilbe and spirea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bethesda Fountain has been fenced off for a Central Park Conservancy event, so once again I made my way to the Norway Maple along the path to the boathouse.\u00a0 Between the lake and me is a tall White Mulberry tree, the unripe fruit of which is hidden among the leaves.\u00a0 Trucks hauling provisions, following a man in dreadlocks who clears the way for them, occasionally pass in front of me.\u00a0 We recognize each other from years past.\u00a0 \u201cRich gotta eat too,\u201d he says by way of greeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I got my first donation from a young woman shooting\nvideo.&nbsp; I belt out \u201cSunday\u201d for her and\nshe gives me a dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have no illusions about this location.&nbsp; After an hour, with only a dollar to show for\nit, I begin to think that today will be the day I don\u2019t earn carfare.&nbsp; A teenaged redhead puts 45 cents in my case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSure,\u201d she says with enthusiasm.&nbsp; I drape a lei around her neck, but before we go\nto the Hukilau, her mom comes forward and digs in her purse for another\ndollar.&nbsp; They both dance the hula, while\ndad strolls back from the staircase where they\u2019d abandoned him for me.&nbsp; They are from Lubbock TX, home of the Raiders\nof Texas Tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When they\u2019d gone, there was $2.45 in my case, still a\nquarter short, but not for long.&nbsp; A man\nwho\u2019d been leaning against the fence and watching the boaters, strode up to me,\nlaid a dollar in my case and strode off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was singing \u201cNorth Dakota, South Dakota,\u201d when the lyrics\ncaught the attention of 2 70-something gay guys.&nbsp; They stopped to listen, told me how much they\nliked my singing, then tossed 2 singles into my case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The path where I played is a stopping point for tours.&nbsp; I play quietly while the tour guide speaks, then ask, \u201cHas this group got time for a hula today?\u201d&nbsp; They almost never do, and today was no exception.&nbsp; Nevertheless, a young woman detached herself and gave me a dollar, then ran back to rejoin the group as they disappeared over the hill toward the fountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I needn\u2019t have worried.&nbsp;\nThere was $6.45 in my case, more than enough to get home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the 3 weeks since I last visited Central Park, the spent flowers have been grubbed up.&nbsp; Along Central Park &#8230; <br \/><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/?p=1143\">keep reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[133,8,12],"class_list":["post-1143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-north-dakota-south-dakota","tag-sunday","tag-the-hukilau-song"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1143"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1148,"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143\/revisions\/1148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mrukulele.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}