Posts Tagged ‘My Little Grass Shack’
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What a Delight
0September 9, 2016 by admin
Correction: The cleome behind the benches at Women’s Gate are not yet dead, as reported yesterday. They must have been watered after I left the park and have sprung back to life. There even appears to be some new growth. For the astilbe, alas, there was no resurrection.
It is Fashion Week in NYC; the park sported many more willowy blondes than usual. One of them, in a purple summer dress with heavy black shoes, started me off with $1.25, including a Susan B.
I played in the sun by Bethesda Fountain for 90 minutes. More hot and humid than is really good for me, I stopped for water breaks every 20 rather than my usual 30 minutes. Three women tossed change in the fountain nearby. One of them, from California, said, “I love the ukulele. I’ve been playing one for about a year.”
“So how about a hula? Then we’ll see what you can do.”
She peeled a fiver from a wad of bills in her purse. “Little Grass Shack?” she requested.
She danced beautifully, with all the hand motions apropos to the lyric. When I handed her my uke, she strummed a few practice chords, then softly sang a jazzy version of “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” I sang even softer backup.
A young bearded man in a cap, a Turk, stood a few feet in front of me and shot video. I gave him a show; he gave me 51 cents.
A group of teenagers from Ecuador happily danced to “The Hukilau Song.” They just as happily walked away.
A trim 40-something man in a white suit and panama hat put a dollar in my case. A 60-something woman, who had been listening from the shade of the benches, gave me a dollar and said, “What a delight to hear you on this fine afternoon.”
Aloha to that.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Dream a Little Dream of Me, My Little Grass Shack, The Hukilau Song
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“I Don’t, but Ashley Does.”
0August 19, 2016 by admin
“What a beautiful day for fishin’.” Temps in the 80’s, humidity low, puffy white clouds scudding across the clear blue sky. I took a seat at the fountain and waited until the cowboy finished. I began with “The Hukilau Song.”
Two little French girls put on leis and waggled through a verse. Each one handed me a dollar. After a few more songs, a woman got up off the bench and tossed a buck in my case. “I truly felt as if I was there,” she said.
A photographer captured most of “Tip Toe through the Tulips.” After putting his camera away and hoisting the case over his shoulders, he stopped by with a dollar.
A half dozen teen-aged girls came down the path. “Have you got time for a hula today?”
One girl tried to drum up interest, but got no takers. “Well, I want to dance,” she said.
“What say we go to the hukilau?” I said.
“I know that one.” She danced using all the movements she’d learned in elementary school on Oahu. Barely 5 feet tall, with flowing black hair and pudgy cheeks, she attracted a crowd. I brought the dance to a close, she bowed to scattered applause, returned the lei and walked away.
A 15-year-old girl, who’d been watching from the bench, gave me a dollar. Two sisters stopped to put a dollar in my case. I invited them to hula, but only one took me up on it.
With a short time left in my set, Maggie the dog, and her owner, Marcel, stopped to say hello. This was the first time out for them in over a week.
“Have you got time for a hula today?” I addressed a couple of college girls, who, accompanied by an older woman, were wonderingly taking in the circus atmosphere at the fountain.
“I don’t, but Ashley does.” I waved a lei at Ashley, who put down her backpack and made ready to dance. This time, we skipped the hukilau and went back to “My Little Grass Shack.”
The presumptive mom found a fiver in her wallet and handed it to me. “We’re from Chicago,” she said, “and having a wonderful time.”
Category Uncategorized | Tags: My Little Grass Shack, The Hukilau Song, Tiptoe through the Tulips
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Best Day of the Year
0June 3, 2016 by admin
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.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: J.P.Morgan Corporate Challenge, My Little Grass Shack, The Hukilau Song
