I forgot my hat today, so it was just as well that the CPC was still occupying the fountain. I headed to the shade of the maple, where the 2 caricaturists had taken up residency, and kept going, to the tall bush that made a slender shelter from the sun.<\/p>\n
A trio of 30-somethings pointed me out to each other as they approached. One of them gave me a dollar and said, \u201cGood work.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was to be like that throughout the set, only without the dollar. A Danish woman loved my hula dolls and wanted to buy one for her grandson. We spent quite a bit of time discussing, until, with a shrug she said, \u201cMaybe later,\u201d and walked away. Another woman popped up next to me and said, \u201cGuess where I\u2019m from.\u201d She was, of course, from Maui, and wanted a selfie. I put a lei around her neck, she flagged down a passerby to take the shot, posed us, approved the pictures and was gone. A CPC volunteer, Elaine, I think her name is, said, \u201cRemember me? You\u2019re my favorite troubadour.\u201d We\u2019d met a few years ago when she heard me singing, \u201cDid You Ever See a Dream Walking.\u201d I started strumming the introduction, but she was in a hurry and walked away. Finally, a woman, who smiled at me on her way to the restrooms, smiled at me on her way back. \u201cYou radiate joy,\u201d she said as she walked by.<\/p>\n
I did manage to end the day in the black. A little kid crumpled up a bill and tossed it in. A woman smoothed out her bill, and, laying it down gently, said, \u201cPerfect, especially in this setting.\u201d With a wave of her arm she took in the lake and boaters, the blue sky and white clouds, the birds and trees, and, its 2 towers rising above the treetops, the San Remo on Central Park West at 75th St. I could not argue with perfection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"