On Thursday, per the news, the \u201cfeels like\u201d temperature was\n95 degrees. Not a great day to stand in\nthe sun, yet on my last day in the city until Labor Day, not to be missed. In the New York garden of the climate-altered\nfuture, evidence suggests gomphrena will dominate. The chestnut blight in Strawberry Fields\nreveals itself in browning leaves and a paucity of nuts. There is a heavy quiet today: no jazz combo, no acrobats, no Colin the cowboy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carole, the photographer, told me Colin had been here\nearlier, but couldn\u2019t stand the heat. \nHer advice was to keep moving, which I did, but as I crested the hill I\nheard an amped guitar, then saw the man-bunned guitarist in my spot under the\nmaple. Returning to the fountain, I set\nup just beyond the perimeter, where the fountain crowd, such as it was, could\nhear and see me, while I stood in the shade. \nAfter a few tunes, a man my age, perhaps contemplating his own\nretirement, gave me a buck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A large group of T-shirted teens followed the leader across\nthe sun-drenched plaza to the shaded path in front of me. \u201cHas this group got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot today,\u201d he said, waving a red umbrella over his head, in a motion meant to rally the stragglers. In the meantime, the kids had clogged the narrow path in front of me, so I launched into \u201cHonolulu Eyes\u201d to keep then entertained. A few spontaneous hulas broke out, but there was to be no organized dancing to \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d Having regained control of his tour, the leader turned and started to walk, his charges dutifully followed. At the end of the line, a gangly boy gave me a dollar as he passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A mother-daughter duo came next. Their hula was sedate, perfectly appropriate\nfor the heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bench facing the fountain was empty, and shaded, so I moved my gear to a corner, sat the solar-powered hula girls on the bench above my case, and continued my set. Before long, a solidly-built 20-something man, in a baseball jersey sporting \u201cSTANTON\/28,\u201d gave me $2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 50-something woman took a video, then unfolded a fiver\nfrom a wad of bills and gave it to me. \u201cHave\nyou got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToo hot to hula,\u201d she laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rotating Earth, with me on it, once again turned directly into the sun, so I pushed my gear to the opposite corner of the bench to finish my set.\u00a0 The shade vanished here too, just about the time I finished.\u00a0 My aloha shirt was soaked through; the sweat stain on my hat was 6 inches wide.\u00a0 I counted out 5 singles and a fin, then headed home for a shower and nap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"