I checked out both chestnut trees this morning.\u00a0 The one south of the path has brown leaves, with only a few shiny nuts on the ground.\u00a0 To the north, the chestnut still has some green in its leaves, but no nuts that I could see.\u00a0 Either it did not bear any, or the squirrels did a good job gathering them up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The wood anemone near the path is covered with buds, but has no flowers. \u00a0The other wood anemone, off the path, is also covered in buds, with 3-4 flowers to show for it.\u00a0 While never heavy with flowers, the plant near the path, given its sunny location, ought to be showing something; perhaps the ease of access has encouraged people to pick the delicate blooms.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A family of Canadians were the first to stop to hula.\u00a0 The younger daughter swayed easily to \u201cThe Hukilau Song;\u201d the elder was too embarrassed, and clung to her mother. Dad gave me a dollar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A contingent of Scots came next.\u00a0 Ainslee was herself a uke player; after her hula, she strummed out a little tune.\u00a0 Her friend decided that she wanted to hula too.\u00a0 When they all got up to leave, Ainslee gave me a fiver.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A young woman, with Goth makeup and piercings, tossed me a dollar as she walked by.\u00a0 A Seattle couple stopped to record \u201cThat\u2019s My Weakness Now.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d I said, as the man peeled a dollar from his wad.\u00a0 \u201cYour generous contribution entitles you to a hula dance.\u201d\u00a0 So hula they did.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A young woman from Chicago, with short brown hair with blonde streaks, photographed me from several angles. \u00a0When she came up to give me a dollar, I invited her to hula.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Why not,” she said. \u00a0Why not, indeed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A steady stream of dollars flowed. \u00a0I lost track.\u00a0 Blue sky, puffy white clouds and a cool breeze put me into some kind of ukulele trance, until a foursome of Kosovars entered the fountain area.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the men encouraged his girlfriend to hula, but there was no hukilau until he joined her.\u00a0 They soon fell into a synchronized rhythm, leading to the big finish: \u201chuki huki huki, huki huki huki, huki huki hukilau.\u201d\u00a0 The man shook my hand, thanked me for helping out his country in the 90\u2019s, then gave me a fiver.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At the end of my set, I had $16 in my case, thanks largely to Scotland and Kosovo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"