Garrison Keillor: It's spring in New York City. One big day of rain (THUNDERSTORM) and two days later the birds are out (SFX), the ice cream truck has come out of hibernation (MR SOFTEE MUSIC). It's like the end of World War II. (CHEERING), strangers kissing each other (BIG SMOOCH), and the skateboarders come out (SKATEBOARD SCRAPING, WHEELS, FALLING), and the roller skaters crowd the outdoor rink at Central Park (DISCO MUSIC). People put on sunscreen (SPLORT) and sit in the park and listen to the old man playing the violin (BAD VIOLINIST) and the man playing Frisbee with his dog (SFX SEQ) and the couple dancing to Barbra Streisand singing on their boombox (SFX). The park is full of people, parents (PUT DAT DOWN. DON'T EAT DAT.) and volleyball players (SFX) and vendors (BOTTLE OF WATER, FIVE BUCKS), and at the zoo, kids feeding ice cream to the goats. (SFX) And birdwatchers watching for New York's famous red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola living at their 5th Avenue co-op. (SCREECH) They seem to be expecting something in the nest. And Pale male isn't exactly a spring chicken. He's been living here for at least 10 years. He's had at least four mates (COOING) and has sired over 20 chicks (PEEPS). Not bad for an old man (OLD SCREECH). The big news was the 50-ton gray whale who washed up in Sheepshead Bay (SPLASHING, WALLOWING) -- evidently the use of electronic devices interfered with his navigational equipment (ELECTRONIC CHAOS) but there he was on the beach, all 50 tons of him and the residents came out and sprayed him with garden hoses (SFX) and they poured Gatorade on him (SFX) and he started singing (WHALE SINGING). He seemed to be singing doo-wop (SFX) and they x-rayed him and found that he had swallowed a member of the cast of "Forever Plaid" from a cruise ship in the Caribbean -- so they got the whale to swallow a rope (SFX) and the guy got hold of it and they pulled him out (SFX......STRAINING, WHALE GAGS, MAN COMES UP THROAT-- Fred Newman: Hey, thanks.) When he came out , so did some car tires (SFX) and bubble wrap (SFX) and a 1995 Mazda which still worked (CAR START, DRIVE AWAY) and now the whale really felt like singing, he was a Joel Grey whale. He sang some show songs. (WHALE SINGING "OKLAHOMA") Like Oklahoma. And "Sound of Music" (SFX). And it was pretty exciting at first, but then it was clear that his repertoire was limited. And when the whale sang, "Love will keep us Together" (SFX) over and over and over, they called in a tugboat (BOAT HORN) and they towed him off the beach and everybody in New York had to stop using cellphones or laptops for one whole afternoon so the whale could regain his navigational system and then he rose up huge and gray in the harbor and he blew (SFX) and he blew again (SFX) and off he went to rejoin his group.