After my annual wellness visit with my GP on the east side, I entered the park south of the Metropolitan Museum at 11 am, about 90 minutes earlier than usual.\u00a0 I followed the path south and ended up at the Alice in Wonderland Statue near the sailboat lake.\u00a0 When all other locales are occupied, I sometimes try my luck busking here; I\u2019ve been asked to leave by Conservancy workers more than once.\u00a0 Across the road to the boathouse, past my maple, I found Bethesda Fountain free of other buskers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since last I played here, they\u2019ve placed the water plants in\nthe fountain. The day was as beautiful\nas a day in June can be, warm air, cool breezes and happy people everywhere enjoying\nNew York. A little girl in her daddy\u2019s\narms came up to me with a dollar in her hand. \nAnother little kid with another dollar soon followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four teens on a school trip from Colorado talked themselves into a hula.\u00a0 One of the boys said he once danced the hula in Hawaii, so I moved him to the middle of the line and told the others to follow him, but it was the girl on the far end who, like \u201cHonolulu Baby,\u201d knew her stuff.\u00a0 For the second verse of \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d they grabbed hands and did a wave, which pretty much followed my hula instructions: use your arms to simulate waves.\u00a0 Each of them gave me money in bills and change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four 30-something women stopped and rummaged around in each\nother\u2019s backpacks. It often happens that\nI see people reach into their pockets or open their purses. It\u2019s a virtual certainty that it\u2019s not to get\nmoney for me. Instead, out come phones,\nmostly, water bottles, sunglasses, and change purses for coins to throw in the fountain. But after the picture-taking and suntan\nlotion application, these most improbable women each gave me a dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Indian man and his wife came up to talk. \u201cYou play very well,\u201d said the wife, as the\nman gave me a dollar. \u201cAnd you sing very\nwell,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two 20-something women in hijab played around the fountain.\u00a0 They struck funny poses for countless selfies.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d I asked.\u00a0 Giggling \u201cno\u201d with their hands over their mouths, they continued taking pictures.\u00a0 I engaged with some other people, but saw that one of the women had put a few singles in my case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A boy and girl of about 5 sat around the fountain with their\nparents. The boy came over to inspect\nthe solar-powered hula girls. \u201cI\u2019m\nLogan,\u201d the boy said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s my\nsister Lily. I\u2019m a minute older than\nher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHi, Lily, would you like to dance the hula?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was a slender child in pigtails and glasses. \u201cNot really,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGive it a try, I\u2019ll help you,\u201d I said, slipping a lei\naround her neck. Logan had already grabbed\none.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to a big party on the beach in Hawaii, called a\nhukilau,\u201d I explained, then broke right into \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mom and dad remained at a distance, cell phones at the\nready. The twins danced the hula, more\nor less. After I\u2019d collected the leis,\nthey ran to their parents, got a dollar each from dad and ran back to give it\nto me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last were a group of preteen Texans who only wanted a\npicture with me. I dressed them in leis\nfor the photo. Together they put over $5\nin my case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My daily total was $28.06. \nI have no idea where it all came from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"