As I entered Strawberry Fields, the ice-cold water man was scrounging for change.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t have 19 singles,\u201d he said, as he offered around a 20-dollar bill to the platoon guitarists.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The jazz combo\u00a0 —\u00a0 bass, drum, horn and electric guitar\u00a0 — \u00a0played across the road.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At Bethesda Fountain, the cowboy was crooning to his amplified accompaniment.\u00a0 I was happy to see him, because it was far too hot to play center stage.\u00a0 I tipped my hat and kept walking toward the maple.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGood morning,\u201d I said to the handwriting analyst.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cGood morning, my friend.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian art seller waved hello as I walked past.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Four Englishwomen stopped.\u00a0 One of them wanted to buy a lei, which I sold to her for $2, under the condition that she dance a hula.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another quartet of women, these from Idaho, stopped for a hula.\u00a0 After the dance, three walked off, leaving one behind to fish a dollar out of her wallet for me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yet another quartet, 2 boys and 2 girls, from Brooklyn, stopped to hula.\u00a0 After the dance, all four walked away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A 40-something man slowed as he walked by, turned and came back with a buck.\u00a0 \u201cMr. Ukulele,\u201d he said, reading from my CD.\u00a0 \u201cGracias.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 2 boys from Brooklyn returned.\u00a0 \u201cDid you ditch the girls?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThey ditched us,\u201d one answered, \u201cfor ice cream.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A little girl of 6 or 7 stopped to hula.\u00a0 When she had done, a family of 4, sitting on the rock outcropping behind me, burst into applause. \u00a0The little girl shyly acknowledged the applause, then took a dollar from her mom and handed it to me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSo now, how about a hula dance from you guys,” I asked the family. \u00a0When no one moved, the teen-aged boy stood up and came out from behind the fence to dance.\u00a0 His mom followed with the camera.\u00a0 They were from Louisiana.\u00a0 Mom folded up 2 singles and dropped them into my case.\u00a0 The family applauded, but not nearly as enthusiastically as they had for the little girl.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was time to pack up. \u00a0I stuffed 7 singles into my pocket, swung my uke case onto my back, and stepped out into the sun from the shade of the maple tree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"