The wood anemone bent out over the path sporting 15 open flowers; the smaller plant, 9. The park seemed more populous than recently.\u00a0 The cowboy, Colin, had already packed his gear when I arrived at center stage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A man asked if a dollar would buy a picture, as indeed it would.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A trio of girls from Maryland wandered by, looking for a good place to sit and eat lunch.\u00a0 \u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d\u00a0 One of the girls, Emily, wanted to dance, so I fixed her up with a lei and told her about the hukilau.\u00a0 After the first verse, she signaled her friend to come over and take a picture. \u00a0In the distance,\u00a0I noticed Carole, her camera nearly obscuring her face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At the end of the second verse of \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d Emily ran back to her friends; Carole came forward and gave me a dollar.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t have to give me money every time,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNot every time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Emily returned with a dollar and my lei.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A man approached from the benches and gave me $2.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Three willowy blondes strolled by.\u00a0 I tried to convince them to hula, but they smiled and kept walking.\u00a0 Just before exiting the plaza, however, one turned back.\u00a0 \u201cHave you changed your mind?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no,\u201d said the woman, stooping to drop a dollar and change in my case.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A pack of Italians rode in on their bikes.\u00a0 They enthusiastically accepted my offer to hula, each kicking in a buck afterward.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A woman of a certain age, having finished her lunch, handed me 2 singles.\u00a0 \u201cVery entertaining,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A couple had been lingering on the bench in front of me.\u00a0 The man stretched out, with his head in the woman\u2019s lap, while she scrolled through her phone.\u00a0 From time to time, the man looked up at me, then, after a few songs, he appeared to be napping.\u00a0 At last they got up to go, and the man veered off in order to make a donation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Thanks,” I said, “I thought you were sleeping.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Love your music,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks for the show,\u201d said another man, shortly before I ended my set.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was surprised to count out $17.76, a number more suited to the busy summer season, July, say, than these slow days of September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"