I got to Bethesda Fountain just as the cowboy was packing up his guitar and amplifier.\u00a0 \u201cGood timing,\u201d I called, as I unloaded my paraphernalia.\u00a0 This was the third glorious August day in a row.\u00a0 The park was packed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A thin young man wearing a yarmulke got me started during my opening number, \u201cSunday.\u201d\u00a0 An Hispanic woman added her dollar during \u201cFit as a Fiddle.\u201d\u00a0 During the course of my set, she walked by several times, each time pointing to my case and reminding me, \u201cI gave already.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A man gave me 50 cents for a picture.\u00a0 \u201cDid you get a good one?\u00a0 Now how about a hula?\u201d \u00a0He smiled, “No.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A young Chinese boy wandered from his family, who were taking pictures of each other in every permutation.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t seem to understand and returned to his family, only to come back a moment later with a fiver. \u00a0One of the women (his mother?) wanted a picture, so I put a lei around the boy\u2019s neck and posed.\u00a0 Then grandma wanted to join in, and soon the family, properly lei-ed, was working through their photo permutations again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A woman came off the bench and gave me $2.\u00a0 Various passers-by dropped their singles, but no one, so far, had time for a hula.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then, toward the end of my set, 2 large women negotiated who would dance and who would work the camera.\u00a0 After the first verse of \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d the photographer lamented that she could not get the video recorder to work.\u00a0 So we halted for instruction, then moved on to the second verse, which, as indicated by a thumbs-up, was a keeper.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A man on the bench had been observing the last 15-20 minutes of my act. \u00a0As I packed up, he walked over and sat down.\u00a0 He was newly retired, and had just lost his mother.\u00a0 Today was his first time out of the apartment in a month.\u00a0 He watched me count out the day\u2019s take, $15.50.\u00a0 \u201cHere, let me add to that,\u201d he said, pulling a single from his wallet.\u00a0 \u201cYou spread a lot of joy today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"