\u201cThis tree is dead,\u201d said the shirtless man on a blanket under the chestnut. He had a picnic basket, a book and a cell phone strewn about, so he probably was not homeless. I was squinting up at the high branches, looking for nuts. Most had already fallen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt starts to brown up like this every July,\u201d I told him. \u201cBut look,\u201d grabbing a branch and examining it, \u201cgrowing tips. Every spring, this tree keeps coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil it doesn\u2019t,\u201d the man said.<\/p>\n
I stomped on a shiny chestnut, crushing it against the broad ledge of Manhattan schist that rises out of the lawn there. The meat was white and moist. \u201cStill good eating,\u201d I said, tossing him the nut. “For squirrels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Distressed to find the cowboy back at the fountain, I moved on. It was cool in the shade of my maple, and hot in the sun. I found myself moving back and forth between them, trying to stay comfortable. A little kid of 7 or 8, asking his father for money, started me off with a quarter. A white-bearded man in his 70\u2019s tossed 2 more quarters into my case as he walked by.<\/p>\n
Two young women stopped to talk about ukuleles. One of the women, from Brooklyn, had just taken up the uke; she played the 2 chords she knew. The other woman was visiting from Switzerland. They happily danced a verse of \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d Afterward, the Brooklynite was very apologetic: she only had 20\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cAloha,\u201d said I.<\/p>\n
A short while later, a mother of 2 had a dollar for a hula. At the same time, a passer-by stopped to contribute some change. For a moment, there was a veritable crush of people around my case, and then it was over. I practiced my new songs, \u201cMy Baby Just Cares for Me\u201d and \u201cDown Among the Sheltering Palms.\u201d In the shade, I focused on the baroque towers of the San Remo; in the sun, the art deco towers of the Majestic came into view.<\/p>\n
Despite the calendar, the busking season of 2015 still has a few more days in it. Until it doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"