Posts Tagged ‘Fit as a Fiddle’
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Better than Average
0July 19, 2015 by admin
Thursday dawned to reveal clear blue skies, low humidity, cool breezes; it was a beautiful day for a hula. Other people thought so too. The park was mobbed. I rushed past the red and pink begonias, past the cone flowers and cosmos. Behind the mass of color were fire red fuschia, in front deep purple heliotrope. On the sides, lantana in yellow, red and orange.
A new guy sang out “Let It Be” at the Imagine Mosaic; at the end of the bench an older man sold cold water, “a dollar less than the hot dog man.” The pods on the catalpa are almost 2 feet long.
I set up on center stage, i.e. the east end of the fountain, and opened with “Making Love Ukulele Style,” followed by “Sunday,” “Fit as a Fiddle,” and “I Saw Stars,” then returning to the Hawaiian theme with “Ukulele Lady.” I noted attention, amusement, acceptance building up around me. I convinced a young man taking a picture to hula. A couple of teens talked each other into a dance. I didn’t mind the walk-aways; they gave others the idea.
My first contribution came from a man just walking by. Then a German-speaking 6-year-old stopped, transfixed. “Wollen Sie der Hula tanzen?” Tanz she did, swaying from side to side while she flapped her hands uncertainly.
Another little girl planted her feet near me and laid her dollar in my case. “Would you like to hula?” “Oh, yes.” A man in a matching tie-dyed shirt was standing by the lake. “Is that your Dad over there? Make sure its ok with him.” It was.
A blonde mom parked her stroller a few feet in front of me. A toddler stood tethered to one side while his 4-year-old sister stared at me, absorbed, on the other. I ran through a few songs, got the kids bopping a bit. Mom dug around in a bag on the stroller. It was either money for me, or a cellphone. The odds were 10-1 against me. It was sunblock. Through another few songs, mom goopped up the kids, then away went the sunblock, out came the wallet with $2 for me.
A dozen or so teenage girls from Argentina were up next, followed by another group from Spain. When both sets of dancers walked away, a 20-something man stepped up with a couple bucks. The cold water man from Strawberry Fields set up shop in the shade in front of me, calling out “agua frio, agua frio.” A single here, a single there floated into my case. It was shaping up to be a wonderful day on all counts. Now 3 women each gave me a dollar. “How much for the lei?” one asked. “Can’t sell them,” I said. “These are my means of production.”
At the end of the set, I counted $16 in my case, a better than average sum on a better than average day.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Fit as a Fiddle, I Saw Stars, Let It Be, Making Love Ukulele Style, Sunday, Ukulele Lady
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From Aloha to Zen
0June 27, 2014 by admin
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.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Fit as a Fiddle, Making Love Ukulele Style
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Two in a Row
0April 12, 2014 by admin
Friday started chilly and overcast, but by the time I reached Bethesda Fountain the day had warmed and brightened. The water in the park has been turned on since yesterday; the gentle splash of the fountain mingled with the sweet sounds of the harp and dulcimer. Arlen and Meta had drawn a good-sized crowd, a promising sign of throngs to come.
I donned my lei at my second favorite location, on the path to the Boathouse. With an enormous maple to my back, which gives great shade in summertime although nothing now, and an outcropping of Manhattan schist to my left, I stood to sing. In front of me was an old mulberry tree displaying several fresh cuts; the Parks Department has been busy lopping off dead limbs. At the lakeside people got in and out of rowboats, while at the easternmost end of the lake other people ate on white tablecloths, taking in the view, like me. Across the lake, I could see through the bare bushes a timber-lined path. Is that new? And to the northwest, the taupe towers of the San Remo, made famous in Ghostbusters, stretch skyward.
I start with “Making Love Ukulele Style,” in G, simple chords requiring no great range, followed by a medley in C, “Sunday,” “Fit as a Fiddle” and “I Saw Stars.” Lots of people walked by, ignoring me. After 15 minutes, a young woman dropped a dollar in my case. They were all dollars after that, 11 of them, and most from women too, none of whom danced the hula.
I got my first hula dancer about an hour in. A girl of 6 or 7 was very enthusiastic, as were 2 adults, but the 5-year-old boy preferred not to. He wandered off to sit on the rocks and watch the show, which turned out not to star his sister, but rather the adults. Under the pretense of showing the girl how to hula, they shook and shimmied up a storm.
After 90 minutes, I took off my lei and packed up. I’d played and sang more confidently today than I had yesterday. Callouses are starting to form on my fingertips. I got a little sunburn on my balding pate. Thus the Aloha Spirit transforms us.
Category Uncategorized | Tags: Fit as a Fiddle, I Saw Stars, Making Love Ukulele Style, Sunday
