Today was hot, with blue sky and puffy white clouds. The spikey blossoms on the chestnut tree have opened a creamy white. I was happy to see Arlen and Meta by the fountain, so I could move on to the shade of my maple by the path. Throughout my 90 minute set, it dropped its little helicopter seeds.<\/p>\n
But the big news at my location was the sighting of a bay-breasted warbler in a nearby birch. Birders were there when I arrived, and just kept coming with their cameras equipped with close-up lenses as long as your arm. Tight-beaked bunch, these birders. When I asked what they were looking at they ignored me, or answered coyly, \u201cBirds.\u201d Any particular bird? \u201cJust birds.\u201d Finally, one guy clued me in to the bay-breasted warbler. \u201cWhat\u2019s really unusual\u2019s how low in the tree it is, and it\u2019s so cooperative.\u201d <\/p>\n
Before long a middle-aged couple from Brazil stopped to hula. \u201cHow much?\u201d the man asked, gesturing toward my CDs. For $10, he had to have one. <\/p>\n
Later, a couple from England stopped to chat, a 50-something man and a much younger, exotic-looking woman. He loved my act, said if he went home to London tonight it would have been worth the trip. I think he was showing off for his girlfriend, naming various places he\u2019d been to in the city over the last 30 years, for the best of this or that, then calling on me for confirmation: \u201cAm I right?\u201d Finally he came right out with it. Taking in the lovely day with outstretched arms, he said, \u201cYou may well be the luckiest man in New York,\u201d then, taking up the young woman\u2019s hand, \u201cnext to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two CDs sold, I walked out of the park with $22.65. The birders were still at it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"