Blue Mind

We have made so many new friends in Nova Scotia since we arrived in the Annapolis Valley in May 2017. Two of those friends are David and Carmen Chamberlain. These sweet people recently opened a gallery in the cool village of Bear River. David, who is from Quebec, is a powerful singer songwriter and charismatic performer, but he asked me to play a few songs on the opening night because he was busy passing around wine and crackers.

When I arrived at the gallery I looked up to the newly painted sign above the door: The Blue Mind Gallery.

At the end of the evening when the goodbyes were being deployed, I asked David what the meaning was behind the name of the gallery. He told me it was the name of a book called The Blue Mind, written by an American neuroscientist called Wallace Nicholls.
The book is written about people who literally LOVE the ocean. People who NEED the ocean.
Both David and Carmen are such folk. So am I. I bought the book.  

On the day I wrote the song about having a Blue Mind, it happened to be by chance my friend and neighbor Cathy’s birthday. I know Cathy has a Blue Mind, as she has a beautiful cottage on the ocean and shares it with her soul mate Dennis.
This is the first time this song has been recorded.

Cathy knows what makes a life 
She’s seen the darkness and the light
Her future’s the horizon now
Still the teacher showing how

Oh, sweet Cathy, looking out to the sea
You couldn’t be more free
Oh, sweet Cathy, a friend to all you meet
Your lover and the sunset’s all you need

She found her meanings in the lives 
Of the lost and found and broken smiles
Fixed them up with love and time
A dollar in the checkout line

Cathy looks out to the bay,
sees fishing boats and seagulls play
Behind her smile the memories sing
Understanding everything