I had my hat, so center stage was a possibility. Deciding I\u2019d gotten enough sun this week, however, I headed instead to my spot in the shade. There was a guy there with a trolley full of gear. \u201cAre you planning to play here?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d he said. He was a disheveled, balding man in his 40s or 50s, pale and not altogether clean.<\/p>\n
\u201cCause this is my spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know you,\u201d he glared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know you either, just saying, I\u2019m here almost every day. I\u2019ll go find somewhere else to play today.\u201d This guy had way too much gear; he wouldn\u2019t last. \u201cYou\u2019re going to use an amp?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCause if you are they\u2019ll shut you down, and you could screw it up for the rest of us. Especially if you start rocking out or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, man, I\u2019m too old for that. I\u2019m just out here because they told me at the hospital I need to get out and do something. They don\u2019t want me hanging out inside all day. Hey, what\u2019s your name?\u201d he asked, taking out an electronic cigarette, sucking on it once and putting it back in his shirt pocket. \u201cMy name\u2019s Heartstring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCall me Mr. Ukulele.\u201d<\/p>\n
So back to center stage, in my hat. Three 20-something girls stopped to dance, but not the hula. They wanted to swing. \u201cOnly one rule here,\u201d I said, \u201cyou have to wear a lei.\u201d While one shot the video, the other two danced the swing to the hukilau. Triple step, triple step, rock step. They put on quite a show, through two verses and the big ending, A7 to D7 over and over before resolving to G. Then they walked off.<\/p>\n
I had a second walk-off of another kind about 15 minutes later. A couple sat down on the stone bench directly in front of me to eat lunch. They seemed to like the music, applauding at the end of every number. The young woman laughed and gave me a thumbs-up at the rhyme, \u201cin those hula Honolula eyes.\u201d I was inspired to serve up \u201cGive Me a Ukulele and a Ukulele Baby (and with a Little Ukin\u2019 You Can Leave the Rest to Me,\u201d just to see if I\u2019d get the same reaction. Instead, they gathered their trash, waved an approving goodbye and left.<\/p>\n
Somewhere during that performance, a woman walked by and waved her arms hula-style. \u201cHow about a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, not today,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cYou seem to be having a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
As indeed I was. It was a $3 day. As I packed up, the breathy sound of an accordion wafted over the plaza, barely audible over the splashing fountain. A woman had set up in the shade at the start of the path. The busker scene, like the weather, has started to heat up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"