The London Plane trees that line the path from Strawberry Fields to Bethesda Fountain have turned a lime green. The bark is peeling and the leaves are wilted at the tips. Autumn has also arrived at the dogwood; the browning leaves curl to reveal the forming fruit. At the Imagine Mosaic, the guitarist sings, \u201cHere Comes the Sun.\u201d<\/p>\n
The day is hot and humid. I give a thumbs-up to the Chinese man playing the one-string instrument. I meant to indicate the volume level on his amplifier was ok with me. After playing for a short time, I noticed that he\u2019d gone.<\/p>\n
A half-dozen 20-something women headed back to work after a birthday lunch. One, Karen, wore a giant button and a glittering tiara. \u201cHow about a hula for the birthday girl?\u201d<\/p>\n
After much discussion, with emphatic demurrals, one of the women said, \u201cHow much for a lei?\u201d<\/p>\n
Normally, I would not sell my means of production, but in this case I said, \u201cThree dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
She dug in her wallet and came up with a fiver. I had no singles in my wallet, and was reluctant to give her my shill money, the 2 singles I keep in my case to prime the pump.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow about a picture?\u201d another woman said. I put a lei on Karen, who started to hula despite herself. Afterward, she returned the lei, which I gave to the first woman, who put it back on Karen. I had decided to use the shill money for change, but the first woman waved it away.<\/p>\n
A man gave me a dollar as he walked by.<\/p>\n
A family from Minnesota posed as they threw coins into the fountain. When asked, they had time for a hula. A bored dad took a few pics, then wandered off to hear the doo-wop sextet in the arcade, while mom and 2 daughters went to the hukilau. For her fiver, mom not only got a dance, she got sight-seeing advice from Mr. Ukulele.<\/p>\n
A father and daughter, sitting on the steps, stood up to leave. The father put a tightly folded dollar in my case.<\/p>\n
A little girl sat by the fountain with her family. \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d She shook her head no. A little later, she put a dollar in my case. \u201cHave you got time now?\u201d Again, she shook her head.<\/p>\n
As they walked off, she turned to wave goodbye to me. \u201cAloha,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"