Author: lewisotr

One Hell Of A Guy, If I do say so myself.
Amazing Things, In and Around Austin, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

How Different Things Were In Austin Back In 1960

lewisotr

A while back on another group I’m on, we were commenting about Bruce’s & Barnett’s Pies made me think about the other things that were happening around Austin around that same time. It made me realize how simple our lives were five and half decades ago. The selections of eateries was really limited, but people didn’t eat out very often. Eating out was a special occasion instead of a way of life. My first memory of eating in a real restaurant was when I was 6 or 7. We were traveling home to Jollyville and it was getting late so … Continue reading How Different Things Were In Austin Back In 1960

Amazing Things, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Mary Ann Muldoon

lewisotr

Once again Facebook and The Angora Chronicles came through. (June 9, 2016) A couple of days ago, a letter showed up at the Marble Falls Post Office. It was addressed to the Post Master. In the letter was a note and eight photographs that were taken back in the 40s. The author of the note said she had an old friend, from childhood that she lost touch with and hadn’t spoken to in about 25 years. She gave the lady’s family name and her married name, as of 25 years ago. The 85 year old lady wanted help finding this … Continue reading Mary Ann Muldoon

Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Finger Pointing

lewisotr

I have a young man, Luis, working around the place making things look pretty. I went and bought him a brand new chainsaw not long ago. I purchased the cheapest one I could lay my hands on, because, let’s say I wasn’t expecting him to be the most careful with it. No need screwing up a $500 saw when you can do the same thing with a $130 saw. It was a Craftsman brand and required the use of 40:1 gas mixture, instead of 50:1 like most other 2 cycle engines. I bought the premixed cans of gas, so we … Continue reading Finger Pointing

Amazing Things, My Friends, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Summer Of 1961

lewisotr

Much of our summer of “61” was spent down in Woodsboro, Texas. Our dad was the chief inspector for Marvin Turner Engineers in Austin. He was sent to Woodsboro to oversee a complete makeover of the Water and Wastewater system. Knowing that we needed to do stuff that regular city kids did, we started off the summer by going to Austin and Navy Store on Congress to buy baseball gloves. I still have mine 60 years later. A new start up company, B & T Construction from Port Lavaca had the contracts to perform the work. I turned 9 years … Continue reading The Summer Of 1961

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, SmithwickLeave a comment

Cec and the 3 Card Monte Game

lewisotr

Back in early 70s Cec had some business to take care of in San Antonio, so he loaded up Bonnie Gay and Nonie and lit out south in Brown Parkers “98” Oldsmobile. With the business out of the way the women folk wanted to go by the Farmer’s Market in downtown San Antonio to get a bunch of fruits and vegetables to take back home. Cec never was much on shopping so he just pulled up on the street and let them out and made the block and parked so he could watch the door for them to come out. … Continue reading Cec and the 3 Card Monte Game

Meeting New People1 Comment

A Visit From The Jehovah’s Witnesses

lewisotr

One Sunday afternoon I was sitting around the house, with my three younger sons. They were all still in school, but big teenagers by that time. We looked out as a minivan drove up and parked in the circular drive out front. We all four went out to see what they wanted. Not usually how we greeted folks, a whole hoard of Lewis’s, but we all ended up facing off with a young, mid 20’s guy and older fellow, maybe in his 70’s. They had papers in there hands, and gave us all some pamphlets that we could read. The … Continue reading A Visit From The Jehovah’s Witnesses

Amazing Things, Meeting New People, My FriendsLeave a comment

Lewis the Hawksbill Turtle

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It was a Saturday morning in the Fall of 2012 and I asked our neighbors down at Port Aransas, Gene and Virginia, if they would like to go with me to the Padre Island National Seashore. We had talked before about going to the two areas they call Little Shell Beach and Big Shell Beach. We drove about 22 miles south of the visitor center before we decided to turn around. The going got too rough to chance continuing any further. On the way back we saw a huge Turtle on the beach not very far out of the water. … Continue reading Lewis the Hawksbill Turtle

Crazy Times, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

The Turtle Rescuer Girl

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At our family reunion in 2013 my cousin Gerald Kirkland and his daughter Shannon came from Arkansas. After the reunion was over they came to visit Madeline and me in Corpus Christi for a couple of days. To give them a look at the Gulf Coast we drove out to the Padre Island National Seashore to hunt for seashells and look around. It’s a very primitive area where there are few people unlike other areas of the beach on Padre or Mustang Island’s. It was in turtle hatching season. The US Park Service hires college students that they have out … Continue reading The Turtle Rescuer Girl

Funny Happenings, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Hidden Talents

lewisotr

I confess that I actually have very few true talents. But I do have the ability to think very fast on my feet. In situations like while driving and taking sudden evasive measures to avoid an accident. There is no real way to measure that knack. But I have narrowly escaped many more accidents than I have actually been involved in. I’m not sure that wiggling my ears is really a talent, but I’ve amused people, mostly kid passengers in adjacent cars at red lights and such. I find that I’m losing that ability with age. I guess I’ve lost … Continue reading Hidden Talents

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My Memorial Day Memory – 1981

lewisotr

Memorial Day is a time for reflection and to honor those Military Person’s that gave the ultimate sacrifice for this wonderful nation. But 40 years ago Memorial Day was marked by devastation to parts of Austin, like nothing some of us had ever lived through. The story below tells my personal experience that day. During the early morning hours parts of Austin received 11 inches of rain in the span of 3 hours. I have no doubt that one of the highest elevations around, Jester Mountain received that much rain or close to it. We were building what is now … Continue reading My Memorial Day Memory – 1981