On Monday, after my rain-foreshortened Farewell Tour, I\nsallied forth again. It was a beautiful\nfall day, bright and sunny, with temps in the mid-60s. The amplified acrobats were audible from 100\nyards away, but Bethesda Fountain was quiet. \nAs I got closer to center stage, however, I heard the unpleasant screech\nof an erhu, a 1-stringed Chinese violin, so I continued toward the boathouse\nand my Norway Maple, where I could set up and play uncontested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A young man with a neatly trimmed beard started me off with a dollar.\u00a0 A little while later, a 30-something woman held her change purse upside down over my case.\u00a0 Many dollars\u2019 worth of coins spilled out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An elderly man in a bowler hat came by and surprised me with\na fiver. Another fiver came my way when\n2 couples stopped to listened to \u201cFit as a Fiddle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A third fiver came from 1 of 3 adults who adoringly led a toddler on a walk in the park.\u00a0 Another adult gave a dollar to the little girl and directed her to give it to me.\u00a0 She advanced a few steps, then retreated. The adult turned her around and gave her a shove toward me.\u00a0 \u201cNothing doing,\u201d muttered the third adult, who tossed a substitute dollar in my case.\u00a0 \u201cGotta go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is when the toddler decided to give me the dollar.\u00a0 The adults applauded, then turned to go. I offered to return the substitute dollar, but my gesture was politely refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I began to sing \u201cNorth Dakota, South Dakota,\u201d which captured the attention of a dad who happened to be walking by with his wife and 2 kids.\u00a0 He stopped to listened, then handed each child a dollar for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Counting my take after 90 minutes, I had $20 in bills and $6.07 in coin, the 3rd<\/sup> highest total of the season, and the highest since June 11. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"