It started well enough. I had center stage, which at 11:30 was still in shade. I began with \u201cMaking Love Ukulele Style,\u201d moved through the C-major medley of \u201cSunday,\u201d \u201cFit as a Fiddle\u201d and \u201cI Saw Stars,\u201d and ended with \u201cUkulele Lady.\u201d As I\u2019m playing, a couple of twenty-somethings sit down near me, then a couple more. They weren\u2019t there to do the hula \u2013 I checked. They were there to practice a flash mob for tomorrow, when someone was going to propose to someone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this going to take long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, no, just a few minutes. Go ahead and play, it won\u2019t bother us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mob had swollen to 25-30 people; they were swarming all around me, in loud conversation with themselves. I had become inaudible as well as invisible. Finally, they lined up, paired off, and followed their slim blonde leader through their number. It had Broadway choreography, high kicks, 2, 3, swing, dip, 2, 3, hop, hop, hula. I sat down in the shade and waited for it to end.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, is that it?\u201d I asked when they took a break, knowing full well it wasn\u2019t. \u201cYou\u2019re killing me,\u201d I told one of them. \u201cHow about moving this thing over there?\u201d I motioned toward the Arcade, where the sacred singers sung. Slowly the mob moved off.<\/p>\n
I had 2 contributors today, both teenage men, a 14-15 year-old who said he liked uke music but didn\u2019t himself play, and an 18-19 year-old, who gave me $2 and danced with his friend for Margie\u2019s birthday. Margie got a good laugh, but would not join in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"