The clouds rolled over head, a gray scale of threat; it would certainly rain. There I was, nevertheless, bending down to examine a second, lone wood anemone flower. There were several anemone plants, but the backmost ones were being strangled by encroaching boneset. The deciduous trees showed more yellow than last time out, but nowhere did I see peak red. Even the maple, under which I started my set today, was still mostly green, although the baby mulberry was resplendent in autumnal berries.

A 7-year-old girl stepped up and gave me a dollar. “Have you got time for a hula today?” She nodded shyly, donned the lei and rocked rhythmically back and forth. On cue, she threw her net out into the sea and hauled in all the ama-ama. Her delighted father chipped in another $2.

By this time, I figured the cowboy was gone, so I piled everything into my case and carried it back to the fountain. A couple from Hawaii came laughing down the path. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you,” said the woman, dropping a single. With very little coaxing, she danced to “The Hukilau Song.”

A tall, distinguished gentleman, with a large camera, checked me out from one angle, then another. Finally, he approached and asked if he could take video of me for his daughter in Argentina, who was a fan of the uke. “Of course,” I said, laying the 2 singles he proffered in my case.

An Englishman came off the bench with a buck. “Thank you,” he said.

Two women from Minnesota seemed happy to see me. We chatted for a while, then they did a languorous hula and walked off to get some pop – soda to us. “We’ll be back.”

A bicycle pack of Israelis rode in and dismounted across from me. A 20-something woman came forward with a thumbs up and a buck.

An Italian couple passed by to get to the water; they were memorable because he was dressed in workman’s clothes and she was all dolled up, with a blond wig, evening makeup, cocktail dress and high heels. On their way back, I called out, “Have you got time for a hula today?”

She did, while her boyfriend/husband peeled off 3 singles, waiting until we were done before tossing it in my case.

The women from Minnesota, Lisa and Lynn, came back with their pop and a fiver for me. Later, they sent me this video.