The dogwood berries have started to turn red.\u00a0 They usually dangle over the button seller\u2019s head, but today he\u2019s not here.\u00a0 The hot dog cart on the north corner is gone.\u00a0 There are fewer pedicabs lined up in the shade, the drivers bent over their cell phones.\u00a0 The park seems to have emptied out for the season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s wood anemone score:\u00a0 6-5.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(I noticed a rival league of pink wood anemones farther down the path, under a tree near the road, but decided that entry to the competition was closed for the season, and moved on without counting flowers.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the waters of the fountain, lotus flowers have ripened into brown-faced pods, large red and white flowers bloom singly or in pairs on their lily pads, and a tall grass that looks like bamboo rustles softly in the wind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nearly a half hour passes before a couple appeared from around the fountain to give me $2.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A tall young man recorded \u201cAll I Do Is Dream of You.\u201d He gave me a dollar, and said he was from Uruguay. \u00a0I was delighted; it had taken an hour, but I’d earned 30 cents more than a senior round trip on the subway, my definition of break-even. \u00a0That was to be all for another 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As I came to the end of my set, four girls from Mexico showed up.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They were shy, they demurred, they stared at their feet, but they did not walk away, and soon succumbed to kibitzing, Mr. Ukulele-style.\u00a0 They danced to both verses of \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d and together assembled 3 singles, doubling the day\u2019s take.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"