Geezer in The Weeds
“I let the wind tell me where to go and the stars when it’s time to sleep”
Driving by a perfectly still lake one early morning in the Adirondack Mountains, my friend Ross caught a fleeting glimpse of a hat and a fishing pole sticking out above the tall reeds and called out, “Geezer in the weeds.” I wanted to know who that guy was and I longed to be spending the day in a boat on that beautiful lake, too. I live in the city (and love it) but spend a lot of time in the wild to recharge, re-center, and reconnect to myself and the planet. A side note: geezer in its original British form is not necessarily an old man; it’s someone whose name you don’t know or who is in disguise. The masked Mummers going town to town singing and playing for their room and supper were also called guisers.
Barry Oreck – vocal, guitar
Adam Armstrong – bass
Jesse Miller – mandolin, vocal
Rima Fand — violin and vocal
Originally released on We Fit Together (2020 CD)
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Geezer in the Weeds by Barry Oreck
In the dim first light of morning On my way to another job
I catch a glimpse of silver fly across the still blue water
I see a hat and a ripple behind a boat stir the tops of the yellow grass
Just a hint of life lived out of sight And a choice to be sitting alone
It’s a geezer in the weedsThe very next day I called in sick Put my boat up on the roof
And paddled my craft across the pond and followed that ripple upstream
And around the bend tucked under the bridge he sits with a little grin
With a nod and a tap of a finger to his cap He beckons me to nose my boat in
I asked him kindly could he show me how To cast in this tight lagoon
And how he learned to sit and wait Till the rising of the moon
And be a geezer in the weedsHe said ‘I’m no Thoreau, or young John Muir
There’s a million problems I can’t cure
But sitting in here with the beaver and geese
I can find my nature and feel some peace
Just a geezer in the weeds
Said I’ve spent too much time chasing things Now I let em come to me
And I let the wind tell me where to go And the stars when its time to sleep
My life is like a leaky boat that somehow stays afloat
I bail just enough to keep out of the mud And I paddle just to stay in place
You can troll and cast for the largest fish
You can push and paddle and sweat
But the best rewards come to those who wait And live with no regrets
Just a geezer in the weedsHe said ‘I’m no Thoreau, or young John Muir
There’s a million problems I can’t cure
When it comes to troubles I catch and release
And stay in the margins and find some peace
Just a geezer in the
Geezer in the
Geezer in the Weeds