The stella d’oro lilies have bloomed bright gold, with lantana and penstemon in the background. In the foreground, the park gardeners have planted out cleome and euphorbia. Red dog-roses are blooming in profusion behind the benches, while deeper in the park the dog-roses are in massive clumps of pink, and deep red garden roses send fat buds into the sky.

The road was lined with porta-potties from Royal Flush, for the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge run last night and tonight. As I got close to Bethesda Fountain, I could see giant bubbles floating high over the road toward Central Park South. The park was mobbed, auguring a good day.

Right off the bat, 2 sisters from Baton Rouge danced the hula. Shortly afterward, 2 women from Ohio put $6 in my case, then sat down to have their lunch. They sat there through the rest of my set.

A girl of 3 or 4, wearing a Minnie Mouse tee, walked slowly by with her mom, who pushed an empty stroller. “Hi, Minnie,” I said, “have you got time for a hula today?” She nodded yes; I looked up at her mom, who also nodded yes. So it was off again to the hukilau. The girl’s name was Sylvia, and after we were done, she handed the lei back to me and rejoined her mom. I watched as mom helped Sylvia dig through her pocketbook until they came up with a shiny quarter, which Sylvia gently placed among the few bills in my case.

A teenager walked by with his family, stopped to listen, then ran to catch up. A little while later he was back with a dollar.

Another toddler, this one 4-5 years old, came by with mom and dad. After her hula, mom and dad opened their wallets and conferred, finally handing me a bill for 5 Brazilian reals, worth approximately $1.40. “We have no US money,” mom said, “but there are many Brazilian people in New York.”

A group of rising high school freshmen from the Central Valley of California gathered nearby. A few kids did the hula, then a few more. Later, a few more, then a few more. Finally, the teacher did the hula. Each kid dropped some money, and the teacher dropped a fiver.

In the shade, where the path from the boathouse enters the fountain area, a group of adults gathered. They were still wearing their admission stickers for the Metropolitan Museum. One of them came forward with a fiver, followed by others with singles.

It was hot, and I’d emptied my water bottle, so even though I still had 10 minutes left, I started singing my closing number, “Little Grass Shack.” Just then, a young teen from Arizona wanted to hula; after the first verse of “The Hukilau Song,” her sister joined her. Dad, who was taking pictures, peeled a fiver off a wad of bills.

At the end of the day, I counted out $39.63, plus 5 reals, the best day of 2016.