This song is from the book "Sharlie", a story inspired by the magic and beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Excerpts from "Sharlie" can be found at www.swanseamusic.com. In the story, the eight sisters of Andala gather small shells from the beach, whisper a wish into them, and wrap them in a piece of cloth torn from their robes. They place the bundles in the shallow water along the shore, upon the river of moonlight that shines across the sea, all the while singing their ancient song of sorrow. A note from Lynda: "I first thought about writing this song while I was sitting on the beach of a lake in the mountains of Idaho, watching the moon rise. The reflection made a river of silver across the water that reached all the way to the trees on the other side. "I had just been reading about the moon. Long ago people believed that all things wasted on earth (time, worry, treasure, jealousy, unrequited love, unfulfilled dreams) were stored on the surface of the moon in earthen jars. How would it be if we could wrap our cares in a bundle and lay them on the moon's reflection; if Omesa descended in the moonlight on her ghostship of white, gathered our troubles, and carried them away forever?" MOONBEAM RIVER I wrapped my cares in linen and I laid them on the shore and rowed across the silvery light a moonbeam river oh and on the other side I made a fire against the cold and waited in the darkness for the mystery to unfold The wind began its whispering a wildish lullaby the song though silent in me with the moonlight filled the sky the waves began to murmur and they gently touched the shore beckoning me to dwell within the mystery once more And sorrow overpowering in the glaring light of day in the softness of a Moonbeam River slowly flowed away Written and recorded by Lynda Johnson, mixed by Scott Pergande of The Mix House in Boise, Idaho www.themixhouse.com Cover art: Oil painting by Northwest fantasy artist Bleu Turrell www.Turrellart.com Cover designed by Michael Lynch lynchgrafx@hotmail.com