The temperature topped 90 degrees. Anyone who didn\u2019t have to be out was home in the A\/C. At the entrance to the park, all the pedicabs were clustered in the shade. I checked on the blighted chestnut tree; the leaves were browning badly, nor did I see any chestnuts forming, even on the upper branches.<\/p>\n
The arcade and terrace at Bethesda Fountain were cordoned off for the annual staff luncheon for the Central Park Conservancy. An Asian accordion player sat on the bench in the shade. According to John Boyd, her name was Whaley, or Wei Li, and she was his fianc\u00e9. \u201cDon\u2019t you have six kids?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe looks like a young woman, maybe this is your chance for an even dozen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought of that,\u201d he said. \u201cThat just may be the excuse I was looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
At my spot beneath the maple, before I even had a chance to tune up, a Chinese man stopped with his family, dropped $2, and asked me for a Chinese song. I told him I didn\u2019t know any, so he asked for \u201cSanta Lucia.\u201d I didn\u2019t know that either, but that didn\u2019t stop me from faking it.<\/p>\n
Next up was an Egyptian woman and her daughter. The young girl had no interest in a hula, but mom did. Despite her mom\u2019s efforts, however, the daughter was adamant, so mom quit in the middle, thanked me with a dollar and walked off.<\/p>\n
A teenage boy gave me a buck, and a man walking by dug deep into his pocket for a handful of silver.<\/p>\n
My location on the path is on the way to the Boathouse restaurant, which, in addition to food, offers an outside water fountain and restrooms. Often people hurrying by give me a thumbs-up, but do not slow down. On 2 occasions today, middle-aged men acknowledged me in one direction, then, much relieved, gave me money in the other.<\/p>\n
A couple sat on the rock behind me, in the shade, posing for pictures of one another. After a while, I forgot all about them. A large group of pre-schoolers came by, including one little girl who cried inconsolably. They were from a summer camp sponsored by PS 175, and everyone wanted a lei. I ended up singing 6 verses of \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d so they could share leis until everyone had a turn. The crying girl hung back, clutching the hand of one of the counselors. <\/p>\n
At the end of the dance, with no money changing hands and none expected, the counselors herded the kids into a line in preparation for marching them to their next destination. That\u2019s when a woman approached the crying girl, in an attempt, one presumes, to\u2026well, I don\u2019t know what she thought she could do, and neither did the lead counselor. He was a stout muscular man, with a full beard and sweet smile, which quickly disappeared when the woman intervened. He tried to warn her off, and before long, raised voices, unruly kids and a crying child soured the mood.<\/p>\n
I waited until the storm passed, then closed my set with \u201cMy Little Grass Shack.\u201d The couple from the rock climbed down and headed east, in the opposite direction as the kids. The man put $2 in my case. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"