Posts Tagged ‘Tao Porchon-Lynch’

  1. For Those Keeping Track at Home

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    September 18, 2016 by admin

    A thunderstorm on Wednesday night swept the air clean. Thursday was clear and warm, without the oppressive humidity of earlier in the week. I doubled Tuesday’s take on Wednesday, and doubled it again today. (For those keeping track at home, I took in $27.83)

    First came the British Commonwealth. Two Englishmen, resting on the bench, put $2 in my case. They were waiting for a George Formby song; I had to tell them I didn’t know any, although I have from time to time tried to work up, “With My Little Ukulele in My Hand.”

    An elderly English couple sat through a few numbers. When they got up to leave, they gave me $2, and also asked if I knew any George Formby songs.

    A teen from Scotland came up to me with a buck and change. “Can I buy a necklace?” I told her no, but she gave me the money anyway. When asked, she said she’d never heard of George Formby.

    Two Australian girls danced a hula, then dropped what I thought were several quarters into my case, which turned out to be dollar coins.

    A young man, definitely American, gave me a dollar. “I’d give you more,” he said, “but this is all I have.”

    A steady stream of contributors came by. Everybody seemed energized by this gorgeous day.

    Then came the Romans, three women, one of whom was either the mother or older sister. They wanted to dance the hula, but first Luigi, their brother, had to be called back from water’s edge to take photos. “Luigi, subito!” I put leis around their necks, but they still weren’t ready.

    “Luigi, subito!” Finally, he trotted over and took up his camera. We started out with a standard hula to “The Hukilau Song,” but soon the women were prancing and posing. One of them took my hat. After a raucous second verse, I ended the song with a flourish. They put a fiver and a single in my case.

    A couple watching from the bench gave me a dollar. This is why I prefer center stage in the sun than a shady spot under the maple. When people hear a few songs, or see someone enjoying a hula dance, they get it, the aloha spirit, in a way a few bars of a tune or lyric heard in passing cannot evoke.

    A 20-something celebrated her arrival at 30-something with a birthday hula. One of her friends put a fiver in my case.

    Toward the end of my set, an elegant elderly woman, dressed in neon green with a colorful scarf and high heels, was encouraged by her entourage to dance. I put a lei around her neck and took her to the hukilau. She danced slowly, with graceful arm movements and gently swaying hips. At the end of the dance, a young woman put $2 in my case.

    As they walked eastward up the path, I caught up to the young woman and asked, “Is she famous?”

    “In some circles. She is Tao Porchon-Lynch, the world’s oldest yoga teacher. She’s in the Guinness Book of Records.”

    “So how old is she?”

    “She’s 98.”

    Returning to my spot to close out my set, people came up to ask who she was. Some of them even tipped me for the information.

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