Another cool morning developed into another beautiful day. Behind the benches, a single rose bloomed high atop a singularly aggressive branch. The dogwood fruit, pink and spiky, hung over the button seller\u2019s head. The guitarist at the mosaic sang \u201cIn My Life.\u201d Where the art seller lounged with a book on a plastic beach chair, the electric guitarist sat on the ground, picking out riffs.<\/p>\n
At Bethesda Fountain, while the cowboy sang his final 2 songs, \u201cSweet Caroline\u201d and \u201cWould You Know My Name,\u201d I chatted with a group of bible-schoolers from Rochester. When I stood up to play, I asked, \u201cWould you guys like to dance the hula?\u201d In response, one of them said, \u201cWe don\u2019t dance.\u201d <\/p>\n
An elderly man stood some distance away taking my picture. He came a little closer and took some more. When he lowered his camera, he pulled a dollar from his pocket. He told me he used to live in the city, but had retired to Albuquerque. \u201cYou picked the perfect time to come back,\u201d I said, taking in the blue sky, the happy crowd, the architectural and natural beauty, all in one broad sweep of my arm.<\/p>\n
Two girls from Long Island did the hula and gave me a dollar. Two girls from Queens did the hula and walked away.<\/p>\n
Ninety degrees around the fountain, facing the arcade, a saxophonist started wailing. This, of course, was a flagrant breach of busker etiquette. When he turned on his electric accompaniment, which seemed to consist of a drum and bass, it was an illegal act. For a while, I contemplated going over and talking to him, or moving my operation somewhere else, but in the end I decided to summon all the aloha spirit I had and play on. Even when the violinist from the arcade joined him, even when people on the benches applauded enthusiastically, I sang my songs.<\/p>\n
A woman took a video of my singing \u201cSunday,\u201d both verses, then came forward with a fiver. A 7 or 8-year-old girl stopped to listen. \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d She shook her head and ran back to her parents, who were listening to the sax. Sometime later, she came back with a dollar. \u201cHave you got time for a hula now?\u201d Again, she shook her head and ran off. I saw her skipping around near her parents; she was playing the air-ukulele.<\/p>\n
A family rode up on bikes. The teenage daughter started moving to the music. It wasn\u2019t long before she was at my side, lei-ed and hula-ing.<\/p>\n
At the end of my set, I counted an even $10, not bad for such a competitive outing. Then all the attention shifted to a 1-year-old girl who was walking wobbly in brand new shiny black patent leather shoes. With each uncertain step, the shoes squeaked loudly, succeeding where I failed, to drown out the sax. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"