"...But when he reached the prairie..."  plink plinkle plink   "... he found a new made mound..."  thum thum ting thum  "...His friends they sadly told him.."  plink plinkle plink  "... they'd laid his sweetheart down."  thum thumble thum thum.

I rarely heard a "strum".  Dad was a picker.  He always had guitar picks but never seemed to use them.  We'd all sit around the room, drinking our beverage of choice.  Coffee for mom, iced tea for Aunt Marilyn, Lucky beer for Uncle Lon, and I usually enjoyed a can of generic Alpha Beta soda.   I'd also try to figure out the puzzles in the  Lucky beer cap.  I loved those beer caps.  Uncle Lon kept a jar of them handy for anyone to solve.

"... your sweetheart waits fo-or you.  O-out on the lonely pra-irie.  Where skies are al-ways blue."  thum thumble thum thum.

The room is silent.  The last strains of the beautiful bittersweet ballad hangs in the air plaintively.  Finally, someone breaks the silence as dad takes a sip of his drink.  Maybe it's a beer, often it's coffee.  I liked it when it was whisky.  It usually meant that dad might sing a bit longer and maybe be willing to do one of my personal favorites, California Joe.  "John, will you do The Ship?"  It's Uncle Lon.  I could have gone to the bathroom and back and not heard the question but I'd know who asked when I heard the first strains.  Uncle Lon loves that song. 

There is a ship

And she sails the sea.

She's loaded deep

As deep can be.

But not as deep

As this love I'm in.

I know not if

I sink or swim...

He picked the notes identically to how Peter Paul and Mary do.  His voice, a mellow but strong voice reminds me of Jim Reeves without the twang.  I loved hearing his voice.  I  never felt more loved, secure, and at home than when dad sang.

"... no other love but you."

*btw... the beer cap puzzle is, "When it's springtime in the Rockies".  Appropriate for this post don'tcha think?*

Click HERE for more bottle cap fun!