On Monday, after my rain-foreshortened Farewell Tour, I sallied forth again.  It was a beautiful fall day, bright and sunny, with temps in the mid-60s.  The amplified acrobats were audible from 100 yards away, but Bethesda Fountain was quiet.  As I got closer to center stage, however, I heard the unpleasant screech of an erhu, a 1-stringed Chinese violin, so I continued toward the boathouse and my Norway Maple, where I could set up and play uncontested.

A young man with a neatly trimmed beard started me off with a dollar.  A little while later, a 30-something woman held her change purse upside down over my case.  Many dollars’ worth of coins spilled out.

An elderly man in a bowler hat came by and surprised me with a fiver.  Another fiver came my way when 2 couples stopped to listened to “Fit as a Fiddle.”

A third fiver came from 1 of 3 adults who adoringly led a toddler on a walk in the park.  Another adult gave a dollar to the little girl and directed her to give it to me.  She advanced a few steps, then retreated. The adult turned her around and gave her a shove toward me.  “Nothing doing,” muttered the third adult, who tossed a substitute dollar in my case.  “Gotta go.”

This is when the toddler decided to give me the dollar.  The adults applauded, then turned to go. I offered to return the substitute dollar, but my gesture was politely refused.

I began to sing “North Dakota, South Dakota,” which captured the attention of a dad who happened to be walking by with his wife and 2 kids.  He stopped to listened, then handed each child a dollar for me.

Counting my take after 90 minutes, I had $20 in bills and $6.07 in coin, the 3^rd highest total of the season, and the highest since June 11.