Before I got through “Making Love Ukulele Style” one time, a distinguished gentleman with abundant white curls pulled a fiver out of his wallet and dropped it on me with a gleaming white smile. A kid kicked in another buck during the second go-round. A few tunes later, a middle-aged woman added to my total, saying, “Your music perfectly fits the day.”

Though hot, the humidity was comfortably low. Fluffy white clouds punctuated the blue sky, while below the lake shimmered green. A thirty-something couple made their way toward me; a bearded man in a panama hat pushed an empty wheelchair, while his female companion, supported by a cane, walked slowly beside him. After giving me a dollar, the man leaned the cane against the wheelchair, took the woman in his arms and danced a restrained two-step to “Fit as a Fiddle.” Finishing their dance, he helped her into her chair and they rolled away toward the fountain.

Within the course of a few more tunes, two recent high school grads from New Jersey danced a hula, and a Japanese man, bowing politely, placed a dollar in my case with both hands. The begging Buddhist, accompanied by a friend, eyed the transaction as they walked by in the direction of the boathouse. A portly man in Bermuda shorts, clearly enjoying the beautiful day, stood listening for a few minutes, breathing in the aloha spirit before making his contribution.

As my 90 minute set came to an end, I watched the two begging Buddhists returning from the boathouse. They playfully whispered to each other, then, to my surprise, one of them dropped 26 cents into my case.