It was gorgeous on Friday, so I strapped on my uke and made my way to the park.  The jazz quartet by the lake was reduced to a trio when I walked by, guitar, bass and drum; the fourth was sitting with his back against a tree, hat over eyes, hugging his saxophone.

At Bethesda Fountain, Colin the cowboy said he needed another 20 minutes, so I headed toward the maple, stopped, considered and turned around.  “Changed my mind,” I told him, as I walked by.  I found a seat in the shade of the arcade, where a classical guitarist played Bach.  I did the ken-ken and sudoku in AM New York, a morning free daily, and in 20 minutes took over from Colin.

A collection of teen girls and their chaperone sat near me as I set up.  “Have you got time for a hula today?”  It was Taylor’s birthday; she and all but one of her friends danced to “The Hukilau Song.”  Afterward the chaperone gave me a fiver, then Taylor gave me another.  It had been a good decision to wait for center stage.

A girl from Ottawa and her friend from Brazil stopped to hula.  Today was a good day for Canadians; after getting a dollar from the hula girls, a 20-something videographer captured the full chorus of “Ukulele Lady,” then gave me a bright blue Canadian fiver.

For the rest of the afternoon, change and singles from those who walked by and those who listened from the benches piled up.  My last dollar came from the parents of a dancing baby, big head, fat thighs, bouncing up and down in place on chubby knees to “Get Out and Get Under the Moon.”

On Friday’s foreign exchange markets, one Canadian dollar traded for 76 cents; so that bright blue fiver was worth $3.80.  My take on the day, therefore, adjusted for currency fluctuations, was $24.70.