The faint stink of ginkgo greeted me upon entering Strawberry Fields.\u00a0 Another sign of summer\u2019s end, the fallen leaves of plane trees freckled the green lawn at Daniel Webster\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bethesda Fountain was given over to the film crew for a new movie, \u201cThree Seconds,\u201d coming out next year.\u00a0 A sign on the stairway warned that anyone in the area could end up on the silver screen.\u00a0 I set up at center stage, ignoring the many PA\u2019s with headsets, the techies with clipboards, and the bevvy of people huddled around the director\u2019s chair in the arcade.\u00a0 I stood to play, scanning left and right for anyone approaching who might want me to shut up and go away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Three young people, 2 women, and a man with earrings and a blonde streak in his hair, wandered by.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d\u00a0 One of the women, who was from New York, was all in, and, after a few words of encouragement, so were her friends from Connecticut and Philly.\u00a0 They rocked out to \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d\u00a0 The New Yorker danced and took pictures at the same time.\u00a0 Afterward, she showed me a handful of coins, pointing out that most of them were Susan B\u2019s.\u00a0 In fact, there were 5 Susan B\u2019s, and 2 quarters, plus another 2 bucks from her friends.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A threesome of 5-year-olds were the next to dance the hula.\u00a0 Three dads took pictures and reached into their wallets.\u00a0 The kids, one white, one black, one brown, delivered the dollars to me.\u00a0 One of the boys wanted to play with my solar-powered hula girls.\u00a0 I took the pink one apart and showed them all how the sun\u2019s rays generated a tiny current through a copper coil, creating a tiny magnetic field that caused a pendulum, hinged at the shoulders and equipped with a magnet at the bottom, to swing back and forth, and with it the hula girl\u2019s torso and arms.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re never too young to dance the hula or learn about electromagnetism,\u201d I told the dads.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A well-dressed woman holding a well-dressed child by the hand slowed as she came close.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d\u00a0 She laughed and kept walking.\u00a0 Then she stopped.\u00a0 \u201cChanged your mind?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no, but I will listen for a moment.\u00a0 Sing me something.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I sang \u201cHonolulu Eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cThank you,\u201d and gave me a fiver.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Brazilian woman danced a sexy hula, while her friends clapped and laughed ($3).\u00a0 A thin old man stood at a distance while I finished off \u201cHonolulu Baby\u201d with a flourish.\u00a0 He came forward to make a donation.\u00a0 \u201cDid you like that song?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not the song, it\u2019s how you sing it,\u201d he said ($2).\u00a0 Two kids wanted to hula.\u00a0 \u201cMake sure it\u2019s ok with your mom,\u201d I said to the elder.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s my nanny,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cthat\u2019s his nanny too\u201d ($4).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A short, muscular man came running up to me as I sang \u201cMy Baby Just Cares for Me.\u201d\u00a0 He held a phone to his ear; he was drunk.\u00a0 \u201cSing to my buddy in Michigan,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cListen to this guy,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m in New York City.\u00a0 In Central Park.\u00a0 Listen to this guy.\u201d\u00a0 He held the phone up to me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I continued to sing, \u201cMy baby don\u2019t care for shows, my baby don\u2019t care for clothes\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSing about Ted Nugent,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cMy baby don\u2019t care for Ted Nugent, \u2018cause he sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His friend hung up on us.\u00a0 The man explained that his friend was having a terrible time, gave me a dollar and walked away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was a $25-plus day.\u00a0 As I packed up, I said to the PA who\u2019d been assigned my corner of the fountain, \u201cThanks for not asking me to stop playing.\u00a0 Film crews usually want me to go away.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo problem,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cWe shot all the dialog yesterday.\u00a0 Today was just people walking around, strictly M.O.S.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"