1. Winding Down

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    October 3, 2014 by admin

    In October the park slows down. The crowds, along with the trees, thin out. There are still some flowers, michaelmas daisies, nicotiana, twining vines of moon flowers. The hydrangea leaves are turning from green to burgundy, and along the paths, under the shrubs, boneset masquerades as michaelmas daisies. Roses and cleome are holding on to their last pink petals before the inevitable frost. The sky is dark with threatening clouds, but through the infrequent breaks, the sun briefly warms the heavily coated tourists.

    Near the statue of Daniel Webster I heard a pedicab driver tell his fares about the first American dictionary. “No dictionary,” I loudly corrected him, “Senator.” A film crew was at work on Cherry Hill, with signs alerting passersby that they’d be filmed if they entered the area for “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and that their images would be owned by Universal in perpetuity, in all existing formats, and in all those yet to come.

    Center stage was mine. Before my first song was sung, a woman, dressed in a neon green cocktail dress, danced the hula. Her partner got the picture, then off they went. A young Latina did a free style hula for her friends, then she too walked away. Finally, another young woman dropped a dollar and consented to dance the hula, but quit before we ever got to the hukilau.

    On the bench in front of me, an east side mom with two little kids tried to interest her daughter in a dance. I sang my most kid-friendly tunes, “Get Out and Get Under the Moon,” “I Saw Stars,” “I Wonder Where My Little Hula Girl Has Gone.” Clinging to her mom, the two approached, and after much coaxing from mom, the little girl dropped a fiver. The little boy struggled out of his stroller and ran to join us. Neither child danced, but they seemed to enjoy themselves just standing there. Later, on the path leading back to the east side, I watched them chase pigeons through the grass.

    And that was it. For the next hour, I sang for myself. There will not be many more days warm enough to go out, so I’m happy just to croon my tunes and tip my hat to the smiles and thumbs-up that come my way.

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