Author: lewisotr

One Hell Of A Guy, If I do say so myself.
Uncategorized9 Comments

My Mother

lewisotr

Bonnie Gay would have been 87 today. She grew up poor, in a very large family. She was the 8th out of 11 children. Her father died when she 9 years old. She married at 15, had her first child at 17. She waited until she was 19 to have her 2nd child and that was me. She only lived in Smithwick and Jollyville her whole life. She was a friend to many and an enemy to no one or nothing. She was a deadly shot with a Winchester 30/30, lever action rifle with open sights. She wasn’t very big, … Continue reading My Mother

Amazing Things, Meeting New People, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Back When I Was “Retired”

lewisotr

Oh what a difference six years can make. Back then I was retired, getting up and walking a mile or so down Ocean Drive and then onto Shoreline Drive to the wharf area to watch the sun rise up over Corpus Christi Bay. I really met some interesting folks on those strolls. While out for a walk one morning I ran across an interesting fellow. We walked and talked for a mile or so. Very interesting guy. When we were parting ways that first morning we actually did our introductions. “Well I’m Tom Sawyer” to which I said “I’m Huck … Continue reading Back When I Was “Retired”

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, On The Job2 Comments

It Wasn’t Me

lewisotr

(this story happened in the early 2000s) Kenny has always had a lot of company pride. He likes all of his machines and trucks looking good and clean. Everything needs to be ship-shape in Kenny Lewis’s world. He enjoys having his company name on jackets and caps. He spends a lot of advertising bucks and it pays off for him. I see people wearing them often, putting the “CCI” out in the public. Kenny and I had an arraignment for about a decade that lasted until 2003. We pooled resources and CCI was the name that was in the forefront … Continue reading It Wasn’t Me

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Meeting New PeopleLeave a comment

The Guy Had An Accident Well Actually He Had Two

lewisotr

This happened back in the winter of 1981 – 1982. It was a cold evening. I remember when it was by the same way I mark time for so much of my life. By what vehicle I was driving. It was 3/4 ton Chevrolet long bed, crew cab, a 1982 model. Chevrolet had started making a 6.2 liter Diesel engine for their pickups. It was advertised to be the greatest advance in power that had ever been. I had to have one. I found one. I didn’t care what color it was or where I had to go to get … Continue reading The Guy Had An Accident Well Actually He Had Two

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Kenny’s Present To Me, Plus The Story Of The Homeless Woman

lewisotr

Kenny went off to an auction one Saturday where wildlife and birds of all sorts were being sold. This was at the very end of the big Ostrich craze. You know what I mean. There have been several others too, the Emu , the Llama, the Alpaca where anybody that’s anybody has to have some if they ever expect to become wealthy. Anyway Ken decided my little estate could use a couple of the giant birds. So unbeknownst to me he pulled in and opened the trailer gate and made me the proud owner of the two beasts. Like I … Continue reading Kenny’s Present To Me, Plus The Story Of The Homeless Woman

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Cec’s Pry Bar

lewisotr

One More Today From Kenny Lewis Ronnie and I had our share of mishaps growing up and for that reason, were known by the men of the community as being rather reckless. Among those men was one of Dad’s closest friends, Brown Parker. He always said that “Cec could have been a millionaire had he knocked the two of us in the head when we were pups”. Daddy owned a pry bar that had previously been a truck axle. It was at least six feet long and 1 ½” in diameter. Brown always swore that it was the only thing … Continue reading Cec’s Pry Bar

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis2 Comments

Hunting at the Cinco Loma

lewisotr

(Another very fine story from Kenny Lewis) Back in the 90’s we searched various ranches for the best hunts available in South Texas. We had gotten to know Dusty Davis who owned the Cinco Loma Ranch between Batesville and La Pryor. It was not a large ranch (2500 acres), but with high quality deer. This ranch was along Highway 57 on the way to Eagle Pass and surrounded on 3 sides by a large ranch called the West Wind. Larry Martin owned it and was a very successful business man from Houston who had sold his Waste Company for Millions … Continue reading Hunting at the Cinco Loma

Crazy Times, My Friends, The Construction BizLeave a comment

There Are Times You Have To Take The Bull By The Horns And Then Hope For A Miracle

lewisotr

I have a friend, I’ll call him John. We had worked doing the same type of construction for many years. He had worked for a couple of my competitors, but each were friendly competitors, so we have been in various joint venture arraignments throughout the years. Somewhere along the way, due to a divorce or perhaps it was the cause of the divorce, John developed a serious cocaine habit. He came to me in the need of employment. His habit had caused him to be fired from his last job. Not realizing that cocaine addiction couldn’t be cured with compassion … Continue reading There Are Times You Have To Take The Bull By The Horns And Then Hope For A Miracle

Crazy Times, My FriendsLeave a comment

Some People Are Much More Private Than Others

lewisotr

While I’m an open book and most likely going tell you everything about myself. Much of the time I’m probably going to tell you more than you need to know and for sure tell you more than you want to hear. I’ve got a friend, a very good friend that I spend a lot of time with. He is an open book, as am I so very little fails to get said when we are together. I’m pretty much a braggart, especially when I comes to my grandchildren, to which I won’t apologize for. They mean everything to me and … Continue reading Some People Are Much More Private Than Others

Amazing Things, My Friends, The Construction Biz, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My Friend Jim

lewisotr

Here I was a couple of weeks ago, sitting thinking, thinking of my past. I decided 20 years was too long to go without seeing and talking to my ole friend Jim. Jim and I had once belonged to the same church, played on the church softball team together and between the two of us, we had 9 kids, with only 1 girl in the bunch. We had a lot in common, yet hardly anything in common. Jim was college educated and had worked in the non-profit world and I barely made it out of high school and was attempting … Continue reading My Friend Jim