The temperature shot up to the mid-70s, so, without much preparation, I set off for my first busking session of the year.\u00a0 It had been a lazy winter, uke-wise.\u00a0 Except for a star turn on New Year\u2019s Eve, I hadn\u2019t played at all, and even then I\u2019d played my soprano uke.\u00a0 My tenor uke, for outdoor playing, was in the same sorry shape I\u2019d left it in, with pieces of paper lei and dried leaves crushed in the velvet corners, my last CD in a cracked jewel case, broken cocktail umbrellas, and the uke itself horribly out of tune.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Minimally organized, I went forth to Central Park, at 72nd<\/sup> Street, where The Dakota had emerged from its safety netting of last year, with freshly cleaned buff brick and ornate stone and terra cotta trim.\u00a0 Entering the park at the Women\u2019s Gate, I was treated to a hillside of daffodils, tulips and hyacinth.\u00a0 The rose bushes had finger-sized shoots growing from old wood, while grape hyacinth bloomed at their feet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the Imagine Mosaic, the same spring flowers, along with an expanse of wood hyacinth, bloomed all around.\u00a0 The troubadour on duty played \u201cLet It Be.\u201d\u00a0 There were aspirational buds on the chestnut, and farther down the hill, hellebore made a great success where a few years ago rhododendron failed.\u00a0 Fuzzy flames adorned the magnolia, and astilbe unfurled its leaves low to the ground.\u00a0 In the middle distance and on Cherry Hill fruit trees bloomed pink and white.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At Bethesda Fountain, where I like to set up, a man played lounge music on an amplified acoustic guitar.\u00a0 Buddhist beggars stalked the crowd, pushing prayer flags into people\u2019s hands.\u00a0 The lake teemed with rowboats.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I moved on to my maple tree, halfway to the boat house.\u00a0 I started out with the old playlist.\u00a0 Unlike other first days, I was able to remember most of the chords and lyrics.\u00a0 Soon enough a woman tossed 31 cents into my case.\u00a0 A while later, a man gave me $2 for the long video he shot.\u00a0 I got a dollar from a 20-something woman, and another dollar and change from 2 pre-teen girls.\u00a0 No one wanted to hula.\u00a0 \u201cBut thanks for asking,\u201d said one of the girls.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A man stopped and shot another long video; I gave him a good show.\u00a0 He peeled off a fiver and tossed it in my case.\u00a0 \u201cYou like ukulele music?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d he said in a thick Russian accent.\u00a0 \u201cIt makes me happy.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Me too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"