\u201cWhat a beautiful day for fishin\u2019.\u201d Temps in the 80\u2019s, humidity low, puffy white clouds scudding across the clear blue sky. I took a seat at the fountain and waited until the cowboy finished. I began with \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two little French girls put on leis and waggled through a verse. Each one handed me a dollar. After a few more songs, a woman got up off the bench and tossed a buck in my case. \u201cI truly felt as if I was there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A photographer captured most of \u201cTip Toe through the Tulips.\u201d After putting his camera away and hoisting the case over his shoulders, he stopped by with a dollar.<\/p>\n
A half dozen teen-aged girls came down the path. \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n
One girl tried to drum up interest, but got no takers. \u201cWell, I want to dance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat say we go to the hukilau?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that one.\u201d She danced using all the movements she\u2019d learned in elementary school on Oahu. Barely 5 feet tall, with flowing black hair and pudgy cheeks, she attracted a crowd. I brought the dance to a close, she bowed to scattered applause, returned the lei and walked away.<\/p>\n
A 15-year-old girl, who\u2019d been watching from the bench, gave me a dollar. Two sisters stopped to put a dollar in my case. I invited them to hula, but only one took me up on it.<\/p>\n
With a short time left in my set, Maggie the dog, and her owner, Marcel, stopped to say hello. This was the first time out for them in over a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d I addressed a couple of college girls, who, accompanied by an older woman, were wonderingly taking in the circus atmosphere at the fountain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t, but Ashley does.\u201d I waved a lei at Ashley, who put down her backpack and made ready to dance. This time, we skipped the hukilau and went back to \u201cMy Little Grass Shack.\u201d<\/p>\n
The presumptive mom found a fiver in her wallet and handed it to me. “We’re from Chicago,” she said, “and having a wonderful time.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"