Guys in suits

When I got to the spot the South American flutes player was there with his friend who sells CDs for him – really nice guys. The flutes player told me it was slow for him today. I asked him if he thinks it’s because of the 2 guys wearing suits standing behind a table a few feet away, with a big sign on their table saying ‘FREE’. My friend didn’t think their presence had anything to do with the fact that it was slow for him.
I wondered what the guys in suits were doing there. People were registering for something on their table.

The flutes player said he thinks the worse of the winter cold is over.
I noticed how the cold weather cuts down on the saw’s low register – playing low notes on the saw the blade vibrates less then for playing high notes. When it’s cold, those little vibrations of the low register just seem to die out…

‘Saw’ joker of the day:
A guy said to me: “What kind of tree do you cut? That’s hot!”

Today is Ash Wednesday. I saw the first lady with a black mark on her forehead as I was playing ‘Ave Maria’ – how appropriate. I was surprised to have seen only about a dosen people walk by with a coal mark of the cross on their foreheads. In previous years there seemed to be a lot more people with those marks.

The guys in suits folded up there table and left. They were really nice – gave me a nice thumbs up. Before they left one of them put his card in my bucket. That solved my curiosity – they were from New York Life (an insurance company)!

At 3:10 two police officers asked to see my permit. The Sergeant said ‘oh, so you have just finished’ (my permit was for 12 to 3pm). I said ‘yes, I just stayed on since the person scheduled to play after me hasn’t showed up. Do you mind if I stayed longer?’ They did mind. I had to leave.