The saxophone blared from center stage, simulating laughter with a reedy run in thirds down the scale, before breaking into \u201cThe Girl from Ipanema.\u201d Two caricature artists worked the rise in the path, a painter sold his park scenes at the crest, and I set up at my usual spot, under the towering maple. The day was warm, the sky cloudless blue.<\/p>\n
A German girl was the first to drop a dollar in my case. \u201cHaben Sie die Zeit f\u00fcr eine Hulatanzen heute?\u201d She did not.<\/p>\n
Two Swiss men had been rowing on the lake, heard me singing, and wanted to give me a dollar. I often get reaction from folks in boats, a wave or a smile, but rarely does anyone seek me out afterward. Once, several years ago, a young woman asked me to play \u201cHonolulu Baby.\u201d She knew that I knew the song because she\u2019d heard me singing it when she was on the lake a few days before. I had revived a favorite memory of her grandmother singing it while bouncing her on her knee.<\/p>\n
A short-haired southern lady with a backpack hurried by, gave me a buck, and wished me a wonderful day.<\/p>\n
About a dozen pre-teen girls came noisily up the path. I asked their leader, a thin, middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed beard, if they had time for a hula.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave we got time for a hula?\u201d he asked. The response was a boisterous affirmative. They danced to 3 verses of the \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d passing the leis to each other between verses so everyone had a chance to wear one. The leader gave a fiver to one of the girls to drop in my case. \u201cThe group I brought last year did the hula too; it\u2019s getting to be a tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next up was an Australian family, with a young boy who tried to hula, but only managed to move his shoulders up and down. Dad gave him some coins for me. When they\u2019d gone, I peeked into my case to see a quarter and a penny among the folding money. I also looked at my watch, which I keep in my case, and was amazed to see that my 90 minute set was over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"