Another cool autumn day brought me back to the park.\u00a0 A begging Buddhist stood in front of the wood anemone, so no score today.\u00a0 Glancing south, I saw the sprinklers hard at work on the open field; and farther south, three cranes lifted 3 towers ever higher in the sky, contributing to the dwarfing of Central Park South.<\/p>\n
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At Bethesda Fountain, the cowboy sang \u201cJust the Way You Are\u201d (Billy Joel, 1977), including backup singers and a horn solo.\u00a0 When he sat down, I stood up and soon got a 51-cent donation from a man off the bench.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHave you got time for a hula today?\u201d I asked 2 hand-holding men.\u00a0 One, the elder, perhaps in his 40s, had wavy blonde hair and made me guess where they were from.\u00a0 \u201cAmsterdam,\u201d I got it on the 3rd<\/sup> try.\u00a0 They walked off, but came back later and gave me a 10 Euro bill, which I bought from myself for $12.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While conducting this foreign exchange, a young man walking by gave me a dollar, and a couple who had been listening on the bench did the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Three Norwegian children, who had ridden into the fountain area with their parents, got off their bikes and wandered my way.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take long to get leis around their necks and to get them dancing to \u201cThe Hukilau Song.\u201d\u00a0 While we danced, another bench listener came forward with 85 cents.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A tall black woman from Toronto danced a tentative hula, then walked away.\u00a0 Two separate Hawaiians walked away too.\u00a0 The man, a transplant from New Jersey, took out his wallet and waved his driver\u2019s license at me.\u00a0 The woman was native, danced a perfect hula to \u201cThe Hukilau Song,\u201d then ran off to catch up with her friends.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A mid-teen and her mom stopped to listen.\u00a0 \u201cI have 4 ukes,\u201d the girl told me.\u00a0 They were from Dallas.\u00a0 I handed her my uke and she strummed out a sweet song.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cStay with it,\u201d I advised.\u00a0 Her mom nodded assent.\u00a0 \u201cWhen you think you\u2019re ready, quit school, hit the road\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cStop talking,\u201d said mom.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201c\u2026and make your living\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t listen.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201c\u2026like me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the end of my set, a woman came off the bench with $2.\u00a0 She and her husband had been observing.\u00a0 An American, she lived in The Hague, and got back as often as possible.\u00a0 The Netherlands had contributed 14 of the $19.63 in my case, so instead of \u201cAloha,\u201d I said, \u201cVaarwel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"