I forgot my hat today, so it was just as well that the CPC was still occupying the fountain. I headed to the shade of the maple, where the 2 caricaturists had taken up residency, and kept going, to the tall bush that made a slender shelter from the sun.

A trio of 30-somethings pointed me out to each other as they approached. One of them gave me a dollar and said, “Good work.”

It was to be like that throughout the set, only without the dollar. A Danish woman loved my hula dolls and wanted to buy one for her grandson. We spent quite a bit of time discussing, until, with a shrug she said, “Maybe later,” and walked away. Another woman popped up next to me and said, “Guess where I’m from.” She was, of course, from Maui, and wanted a selfie. I put a lei around her neck, she flagged down a passerby to take the shot, posed us, approved the pictures and was gone. A CPC volunteer, Elaine, I think her name is, said, “Remember me? You’re my favorite troubadour.” We’d met a few years ago when she heard me singing, “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking.” I started strumming the introduction, but she was in a hurry and walked away. Finally, a woman, who smiled at me on her way to the restrooms, smiled at me on her way back. “You radiate joy,” she said as she walked by.

I did manage to end the day in the black. A little kid crumpled up a bill and tossed it in. A woman smoothed out her bill, and, laying it down gently, said, “Perfect, especially in this setting.” With a wave of her arm she took in the lake and boaters, the blue sky and white clouds, the birds and trees, and, its 2 towers rising above the treetops, the San Remo on Central Park West at 75th St. I could not argue with perfection.