On my way to Bethesda Fountain on Friday, I saw a woman leaning over an unconscious man lying on the grass along the side of the road.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s alive,\u201d she told me.\u00a0 Relieved, we each kept walking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I arrived at the fountain just as the cowboy was leaving.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d I asked a family who passed by.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll hula,\u201d said the teenaged daughter.\u00a0 The family was from California, and talked among themselves while the daughter undulated like the sea, as I had instructed her.\u00a0 Dad gave her a dollar, which she handed to me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Two 50-something women stopped near me to listen.\u00a0 When I finished my song, one asked, \u201cDo you know \u2018Ukulele Lady\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Is that your favorite song?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“My favorite ukulele song,” she said. \u00a0I played it for her; she gave me $2.\u00a0 Neither would hula.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As soon as they left, a man led his young daughter by the hand to me.\u00a0 The man\u2019s gestures indicated that she would like to hula.\u00a0 They were from Argentina.\u00a0 Dancing rather awkwardly, she started laughing as her dad snapped pictures, and laughed all the way through \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d\u00a0 Dad tucked a fiver under the capo I used to keep bills from blowing away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A bearded man and his girlfriend came off the benches; he tossed me a single.\u00a0 \u201cThanks for entertaining us,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Next, a woman pulled out a handful of change, including a Susan B., and sprinkled the coins deliberately over the cash in my case.\u00a0 A man with a baby in a Snugli on his chest bounced to the music and gave me a dollar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A toddler ran up to me.\u00a0 \u201cDo you want to do a hula dance?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, please.\u201d\u00a0 He put the dollar his mom had given him into my case.\u00a0 I put a lei around his neck and gave him my quick hula instructions:\u00a0 Put out your arms to form the horizon, now move them like the waves breaking on the shore.\u00a0 He tried, but could only manage one arm at a time.\u00a0 When I told him to use both arms, he lifted one up and let the other drop.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Two women from Minnesota with a little girl stopped to listen.\u00a0 I put a lei around the girl\u2019s neck and started to sing \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d\u00a0 The girl had no idea what to do, so the women started dancing too.\u00a0 I grabbed 2 more leis for the women and off we went.\u00a0 At the end of the song, one of the women said, \u201cWe have no money.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry about it,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A couple in their 40\u2019s walked by hand in hand.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d\u00a0 They did not have time for a hula, but they did have time to foxtrot to \u201cHonolulu Baby,\u201d complete with turns and dips.\u00a0 The man rewarded me with $2.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I finished my set, as usual, with \u201cMy Little Grass Shack.\u201d\u00a0 When I turned to start packing up, I noticed a couple walking toward me with a dollar.\u00a0 For their dollar, I encored \u201cHonolulu Eyes.\u201d \u00a0Stuffing $15.30 in my shirt pocket, I exited the park.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was pleased to see that the unconscious\/sleeping man was gone from the side of the road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"