Greg from Chestertown

Yea, you heard $15 bill too? I commented on that in an earlier thread about lyrics changes, someone said they heard $50 bill. $15 bill is more funner. I heard Jerry sing in ship of fools once, forty years upon my head.....

He has crop insurance. He grew up farming, had great success in the medical profession. Now, he’s doing it more or less for the challenge. Some people call people like him gentlemen farmers. Some call them hobby farmers.

Wow! Nice! Yea, what we grow goes to feed cows that produce organic milk.

When I got to the farm this morning, I saw that he had tilled the field under, soybeans and weeds. Gonna plant wheat and try to salvage the year. Nothing’s for certain, it can always go wrong....

Frank and I planted 110 acres of soybeans on his organic farm early summer. A flush of weeds took over after the last cultivating, choked out the soybeans, no light getting through. It will be unharvestable. Long story, but problems with the organic alfalfa also. He’s gonna lose about a hundred grand but still bought the seed and did all the work. Humbling.

So, I’m working for an older couple today who are from England originally. When I finished, stepped inside to get paid. The husband comes in to the kitchen and says, ‘today is the fiftieth anniversary of ‘Hey Jude’. The English are proud of their Beatles. She has told me about how she saw them perform in England when she was a young lady. She said she was a little older than most of the girls in the crowd. (Funny, she never said anything about male fans) but you couldn’t hear them playing for all the screaming. I told them how the Grateful Dead would intertwine that song with Dear Mister Fantasy, literally play two songs at once. They weren’t impressed. Today is the fiftieth anniversary of Hey Jude.

so, I’m at my nephews wedding about ten years ago. My other brothers son came down from Maine for the wedding. We’re all hanging out on the dance floor at the reception, talking, dancing, oh, and drinking. I tell my nephew from Maine about Dark Star Orchestra and how he needs to catch them when they play up that way. He proceeds to tell me the best story. His mother, before she met my brother, went on a date with this guy who took her to a Grateful Dead concert in Philly. She was not a deadhead. Before the show, this guy takes her out to lunch with his friend. So, they go to the show and the band comes out on stage. My sister-in-law says, ‘hey, that’s the guy we had lunch with.’ It was Jerry. My sister-in-law had lunch with Jerry Garcia and was clueless. True story.

Yea, I had a couple interesting interactions with other people at the couple of shows I caught last week. I hate to go negative but it takes all kinds. At the end of the day, I pray for those people. They’re really missing the boat on what’s important and what matters, to be able to enjoy life. I’m pretty excited about simply being alive. I dance like nobody’s watching or everybody is watching. Take your pick. I don’t care.

On this day in 1995, I was about to walk out the door, take my kids to Valley Garden Park. I think it’s some DuPont family members old back yard, Brandywine Valley. My buddy called me. He said I just wanted to let you know Jerry Garcia died. I let out a moan of sorrow and said, ok, let me go. I continued on to the park with my children. When we got to the park, there was a car in the parking lot with the back end covered in dead stickers. Someone sitting behind the wheel, quietly, window down. I didn’t say a word. I just let him be. My young children and I went for a walk through the park, just lolligagging along, taking our time, enjoying the ride. It was just like any other day that’s ever been, just a little sweeter.

You’re still walking, so I’m sure that you can dance. Just a saint of circumstance....(you are still walking, right?)

When you woke from your dream, did you feel the need to use the bathroom? Could it be that when the Dead played Victim or the Crime , you took the opportunity to use the Ladies room and really there’s nothing wrong at all? Sorry, I had to ask. With all due respect, I hope you appreciate my sense of humor.

So, about a year or two ago, I stopped in town to grab a cup of coffee. There was a Toyota Land Cruiser in the parking lot with a huge stealie in the back window. I went inside, there were just a few people. It was clear to me who owned the truck. I walked up to him and ask, Are you a dead head? He smiled and said yes. I asked him what year he got started. He said, 1985, Hershey, Pa., had a blast. After the show, the band went North and so did I, got home sixty two days later. He said, my parents were like, ‘We thought you went to a concert?’ He said, I did! True story. I love it!

So, I learn the other night that my. Cousin passed away at 47. I learned last night that my 86 year old father fell and broke his leg. He’s been battling breast cancer for 20 years. I went to visit him in the hospital after work today. He was shook up, I’ve never seen him look so ‘not good’. While driving home from Wilmington, back to the Eastern shore, my heart was in a new place. Thinking about my parents lives coming to an end. I watched the sun sinking low, shining on the recently harvested wheat field. The electric wires along the road glowed with the gold of sunshine. Almost home, I turned off the main road, towards my neighborhood. Some one had attached a Grateful Dead flag to the stop sign. White flag, stealie, dancing bears, on a pole, in the breeze. That’s all. Thanks for letting me share.

Two years ago, Camden, summer solstice,I went spontaneously after running into a couple on their way to the show at WaWa (convenience store) in Delaware. Dirty, work clothes, boots. I got lost in the dregs of Camden fo about 45minutes after the show. I blew off stop signs, didn’t stop driving until I found a bridge. I’ll never go back. Yes, I can do GPS now. Gonna research Atlantic City DSO on Jerry’s death date, room too. Then Dewey.

A half a show for the price of three. They got rained out last nite so half again.

Yea, I watched a clip of Jack A Roe break out and turned it off. It was sad. But, hey, Johnny learned a new song. Jeff is doing a phenomenal job channeling Jerry. Dark Star is it! Don’t tell anybody, though. They’ll just crowd the venues, triple ticket prices. Next thing you know, DSO will be playing stadiums and I’ll be in the nose bleed section watching through binoculars. Sshhh, it’ll be our little secret.

I just passed a trailer boat going the other way on a road near the Chesapeake. Big letters down the side of the boat; ESTIMATED PROPHET. I call my twelve foot megayacht ' Box a rain'. She's fifty years old this year. I put a new transom in it this winter. Looking forward to splashing her and going looking for arrowheads on the beaches. That's all, thanks for letting me share.

Yea, I get that, when Jerry and the boys sing different lyrics. I’m talking about what words I thought they were singing versus what they were actually singing. I spent some time last winter studying lyrics on line. I must say it was bittersweet. A lot of ‘oh, that’s what they’re saying.’ It changed my interpretation of the song. Sometimes for the better, sometimes I prefer what I thought they were saying and stick with it. Phil talks about this in the book ‘playing in the band’. He says It can be whatever you want it to be. ....believe it if you need it..... let the words be yours....

Oh, it could have been. That's a whole other thread. What they actually said and what I heard. Here's one; ' girls and me and I'm flashing my keys on a Main Street.'

Speaking of changing up lyrics, I just heard Jerry sing ‘fifteen dollar bill’ in FOTD, on a disc lent to me by a stranger.

I read it real quick and typed real fast and ran back to work

Passion by definition is driven to anger.

....with thirty years upon my head....

I do the same thing! That's when I know I need a show! Gotta go dance it out, boogie my sneakers away, deadersize, leave revitalized. Your dog needs a show.