Show and tell

I'm going to take this Friday as an opportunity for a bit of show and tell. Now I know that where some folks are the temperatures are dipping and fall has set in signaling winter is just around the corner.

Not so here in Tampa, it's 90 heading up to a balmy 92 degrees this afternoon. So, my little friend here has a couple of ice cream cones for us to share as together we peruse my treasure.

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My daddy made this for me a couple of years back.

A quarter and penny in the middle signify my state of birth and year of birth. I am a second generation Wyomingite. I was born in Wyoming, dad born in Wyoming, and grandfather was a full-blooded Scotsman, having immigrated from Scotland as a small child.

The quarters and pennies surrounding signify the state of birth and year of birth of each one of my children; Oregon, Colorado times 3, and Florida.

The back opens up....

and there is an envelope with the 2 oldest grandchildren names and date of birth and then a penny with their birth year inside. I have 2 more grandchildren to add since he made this for me.

Hope your ice cream is holding out okay because I have a poem to leave you with since we're talking of my dad and Wyoming... a little cowboy poetry.

Out Where The West Begins

Out where the handclasp’s a little stronger,
Out where the smile dwells a little longer,
That’s where the West begins;
Out where the sun is a little brighter,
Where the snows that fall are a trifle whiter,
Where the bonds of home are a wee bit tighter,
That’s where the West begins.

Out where the skies are a trifle bluer,
Out where friendship’s a little truer,
That’s where the West begins;
Out where a fresher breeze is blowing,
Where there’s laughter in every streamlet flowing,
Where there’s more of reaping and less of sowing,
That’s where the West begins;

Out where the world is in the making,
Where fewer hearts in despair are aching,
That’s where the West begins;
Where there’s more of singing and less of sighing,
Where there’s more of giving and less of buying,
And a man makes friends without half trying —
That’s where the West begins.

Arthur Chapman © 1917-1918

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Have a wonderful weekend!