Author: lewisotr

One Hell Of A Guy, If I do say so myself.
Crazy TimesLeave a comment

A Very Memorable Vacation To California

lewisotr

One of our family vacations that we were able to plan ahead and actually take was to California. I say that, because many times we planned vacations and because of being self employed the business would get shoved in front of family. For that I’m regretful but being in business afforded us opportunities that perhaps we wouldn’t have had otherwise. The year was 1986 I think. It started out in Los Angeles doing some of the same stuff most people do when they go there. A tour of Universal Studios and other Hollywood stuff, then we went to see the … Continue reading A Very Memorable Vacation To California

Thoughts and Musings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Pénta Philia

lewisotr

I am no Greek Scholar, but it’s my understanding that the above term, Pénta Philia roughly translates to Five Friends. (Five really good friends) About 30 years ago I heard a guy on the radio give a shorty commentary speaking on this topic. I was so moved by what he said I wrote to the radio station and they sent me a transcript of his commentary. I had it taped up on the office wall for a long time. I wish I still had it. I thought long and hard about it, thinking the guy was full of it. But … Continue reading Pénta Philia

Cecil LewisLeave a comment

My Own Take On Funerals

lewisotr

I don’t want this to sound morbid, but I have attended so many funerals that I’ve almost developed a classifying system for them. There are the personal ones, that you have to attend. Those are family and very close friends. They are mostly sad affairs. Seldom are we ready to lose those people. While they are sad, there can be moments of joy mixed in. There are the ones that are children and there is never a way to put a happy face on that. Those are always sad, heart wrenching affairs. They haven’t got to experience nearly enough of … Continue reading My Own Take On Funerals

Cecil LewisLeave a comment

A Little Insight Into Cecil Lewis

lewisotr

I hope I don’t give the impression that Cecil Lewis was an outlaw or something. He was, what can I say, he was Cecil Lewis. Truly a one of a kind. If he liked you he’d do anything for you, if he didn’t like you, he’d still do anything for you. He was liked by most people, respected by many but people knew to give him a wide berth. I owe much of my success to him. Not only in the things he taught me to do, but in the things I learned not to do. He was the nicest … Continue reading A Little Insight Into Cecil Lewis

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

1960s Trucking

lewisotr

Hauling things were much different back when I was young. Many ranchers and cowboys had a set of sideboards they’d put on the back of their pickup and then a horse and sometimes two would be loaded in the back. I can remember how unstable a 1/2 ton truck was with that much weight swaying back and forth and the high center of gravity. Many of the old-timers weren’t very accomplished drivers, either. While we did that some I think of something now that seems much more risky. Hauling a JD 450 loader in the back of a 5 yd. … Continue reading 1960s Trucking

SmithwickLeave a comment

The Mystery of the Death of So Many Children From One Family

lewisotr

It was brought to my attention some time ago that in the Smithwick Cemetery there are the graves of 6 children that died during a very short period of time. They all died within 4 years. I found several oddities about this. If they had all died at the same time, perhaps the plague or a house fire may have been the cause. But they died in groups of 2. A boy 8 and a boy 4 died on the same day, Feb. 9, 1859. Three years later a little girl 5 and a little boy almost 4 died just … Continue reading The Mystery of the Death of So Many Children From One Family

Crazy Times, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Jake the Building Trades Teacher

lewisotr

I always considered Jake pretty easy going, knowledgeable and a good teacher. But if you got him riled up, you better watch out. Some of the older guys and a few of the younger ones were real hoodlums. They would always try Jake on for size. He swung a hard paddle. But the maddest that I ever saw that man was pretty late in the school year. A couple of little young pretties were dispatched from the school newspaper to do a story on the Building Trades Program. Jake had told us they were coming and we needed to be … Continue reading Jake the Building Trades Teacher

Marble Falls and the Area Around it.Leave a comment

Thomas Ferguson

lewisotr

As I browsed the 100 Pages of Marble Falls History 1887-1987 published by the Highlander back in 1987 to commemorate the Centennial of the Town, I ran across this paragraph from 1922. (Thomas E. is actually Thomas C.) Being curious about what all young Thomas accomplished during his lifetime, I did some digging. I was to find out that he is buried at Cook-Walden Memorial Gardens in Austin. Following is a pretty good summary of his lifelong accomplishments. So in summary I guess you can say the boy that graduated Burnet High School at 14 did go on to accomplish … Continue reading Thomas Ferguson