The air was warm, the breezes cool. \u201cWhat a beautiful day for fishing,\u201d as the Hukilau song says. Spring sprang apace. On my way to Bethesda Fountain, I picked a violet hiding among the myrtle. <\/p>\n
When I got to center stage, I saw Rakeem seated on a bench, saxophone in his lap, talking to a guy with a guitar case.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou done here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been done for half an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
I started to set up. \u201cWhere\u2019s the cowboy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rakeem pointed with his chin. Over my left shoulder, by the water, the cowboy crooned quietly. \u201cI can live with that,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
I organized my paraphernalia, the solar-powered hula girls, the CDs, the big kahuna dashboard doll, a sticker reading \u201cGot Aloha?\u201d that came with my aloha shirt, and leis, lots of leis. All tuned up, I opened with \u201cMaking Love Ukulele Style,\u201d then worked through my routine for 30 minutes, before a child ran up to me and put $3 in my case. I never saw her coming. I turned and watched her running back to her father by the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d A boy of 18-24 months agreed to dance. I folded the lei in half and with his mom\u2019s help got it past his sunglasses. He didn\u2019t have a clue. I pointed to the solar-powered hula girls. Staring at them, he started to move his arms and hips. His mother tried to turn him around, so she could get a picture, but he kept turning back to the dolls. By this time a crowd had gathered, always a good sign for a busker. Not only did I get $2 from mom, but a man, who\u2019d gotten up off the bench to take a picture, handed me a buck before going back to the bench to sit down. \u201cYou\u2019ve got a good voice,\u201d he told me.<\/p>\n
A little while later a woman took my picture and gave me a buck. Between songs I spotted my West Indies friend, an elderly woman with a proud posture and a bright smile, whom for years I\u2019ve seen walking, east to west, almost every day. \u201cGood afternoon,\u201d I said, touching the brim of my panama hat.<\/p>\n
A 40-something, in business casual, seemed glad to give me a dollar. \u201cThank you.\u201d \u201cNo, thank you.\u201d As I walked up the stairs at the end of my set, a man seated at the top said, “Princess Poo-Poo-ly has Plenty Pa-Pa-Ya.”<\/p>\n To which I responded, “and she loves to give them away.”<\/p>\n High-five. When you play the ukulele in the park, you have to expect this kind of thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n<\/em>
\nI checked my watch, which I keep propped up in my case so I can see it. Five minutes left. I started in on \u201cTiptoe through the Tulips,\u201d but didn\u2019t get past the intro. Maggie the dog, and her owner, Marcel, were making their way down the path toward me. Marcel and I chatted; Maggie sniffed at the 8 singles in my case. It felt good to be back.<\/p>\n