On my last day in the park before a 10 day vacation, I planned to venture onto center stage again, but the big bubble man had beat me to it, so once again I set up on the path. And once again my first customer was a walkaway, of more or less spectacular dimensions. It was a 50-year-old stewardess who lived in Hawaii and her friend, who had neglected to buy her a lei when he picked her up at JFK.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can take care of that,\u201d I said, draping a pink lei around her neck. She would not hula, but she did stand for a picture. She loved it that my uke was from Hawaii, and we discussed the awesome beauty of the islands, from Hilo to Hanapepe. I did a quick rendition of \u201cTiptoe through the Tulips\u201d at his request, then entered into a long discussion of ukulele tunes from the 20\u2019s and 30\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe gotta go,\u201d said the man. And go they did.<\/p>\n
A mother-daughter team walked by. \u201cYou know how to hula,\u201d said mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, all right,\u201d said the girl of about 9.<\/p>\n
While she danced, 2 babysitters encouraged the 3 toddlers in their charge to join in. This hula-paluzza spread out over the path, halting traffic. No one seemed to mind; out came cameras and wallets.<\/p>\n
A Scandanavian-looking man of 25 or so walked by. Our eyes met and that ineffable aloha spirit passed between us. He stopped and plunked down a Sacagawea dollar.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d I asked two 30-somethings.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo hula,\u201d said one, \u201cbut could you play \u2018Happy Birthday\u2019 to Alyson?\u201d<\/p>\n
I could and did, for which I received a fiver.<\/p>\n
A pre-teen Hispanic kid in a #5 Flacco football jersey, trotted down the path behind me and gave me a dollar. He had been seated on the rock opposite the bench on the hill behind me.<\/p>\n
At the end of my set, a pear-shaped old man with a bald pate and in a tie-dyed teeshirt parked his cart directly in front of me and started taking out his easel and canvases.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m leaving now,\u201d I said, \u201cso I won\u2019t give you a hard time, but really?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no,\u201d he explained, \u201cI\u2019m just rearranging my stuff. I\u2019m done for the day too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, then I apologize,\u201d I said. \u201cBut an awful lot of caricaturists have moved up this way. I thought they set up closer to Central Park South, by the zoo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do,\u201d he told me, \u201cbut the city is trying to get us out of there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I counted out $10.50, a decent enough haul in regular times, if a little light for this spectacular week. So \u201cAloha\u201d for now; see you after Labor Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"