Yet another week has gone by before I made it to the park again. A week\u2019s absence reveals great transformations. Golden stelladoro lilies dominate the beds at 72nd Street\u2019s Women\u2019s Gate. A huge lilac-colored spirea bush demarks the transition to small purple celosia, in front of tall, pale pink cleome, backed by dense, deep red roses, their thorny branches rising 8 feet in the air.<\/p>\n
Shade engulfed the entrance to Strawberry Fields, where one of the guitarists sang \u201cIf I Fell.\u201d<\/p>\n
At center stage, under the hot sun, I tuned up and sang \u201cMaking Love Ukulele Style.\u201d For almost 30 minutes no one seemed to notice me, then a girl rose from the bench where she was sitting with her parents and put a dollar in my case.<\/p>\n
Three girls from Queens did a fine hula, then walked off. Moments later a family from Milwaukee stopped to dance to \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d A mom and her 3 daughters knew all the moves; dad took pictures. That was worth a fiver. It had also drawn a crowd.<\/p>\n
Some young children got the idea for another few bucks. At a break in the action, a wise guy from Norway asked me, \u201cDid you lose a bet?\u201d<\/p>\n
A lady taking video of \u201cHonolulu Baby\u201d dropped a fiver, and a young man, who was just walking by, added his dollar to my case. Walking up to me from the bench, a man in his forties asked if I could play \u201cTiny Bubbles.\u201d He told me that his father, a Vietnam vet, had done R&R in Hawaii, and had seen Don Ho. \u201cTiny Bubbles\u201d is not in my repertoire, but I faked it well enough to earn a buck.<\/p>\n
A school group from PS 11 in Queens massed at the fountain for a photo. The left flank sat behind my case, so I moved out of the way and waited for them to finish. \u201cHow about a song,\u201d one of the teachers shouted to me from the right flank.<\/p>\n
I started singing \u201cMy Little Grass Shack\u201d and before long another teacher stepped out of the pack and started to hula. I put a lei around her neck and kept singing. Soon some of the students grabbed leis and before long a riot of hulas broke out. I saw one of the parent-chaperones put a fiver in my case, but the kids put in money too, as did the dancing teacher. I quickly lost count, but upwards of $10 came from this group, lifting the day\u2019s total to $28.61.<\/p>\n
As the kids from PS 11 moved off, another parent\/chaperone offered me a banana. I declined, but I did accept her offer to refill my water bottle. During these hot days on center stage, staying hydrated is vital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"