Category: Amazing Things

Amazing Things, My Friends, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Sometimes It Pays To Procrastinate

lewisotr

This is one of those stories that happen and you ask yourself, what just happened? Last night a lady asked me if I had one of the Centennial Edition of Marble Falls History, published by The Highlander, that I may be willing to part with. It is a great record of the Marble Falls so many of us hold so dear to our hearts. I told this lady, whom I supposed would be using it to do research for a book she is writing, that I would look and see, but I was pretty sure I had a copy I’d … Continue reading Sometimes It Pays To Procrastinate

Amazing Things, My Family, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Let Me Tell You About Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse

lewisotr

(My Mother’s Parents) This is a compilation of stories I wrote some time ago about my mother’s parents and what life was like back in the 20s and 30s in Smithwick, Texas. Much, if not all of their married life Nancy and Delbert was spent in Smithwick. Nancy was a member of the Martin Family from Burnet. I believe Delbert was raised primarily in Smithwick. My Maternal Grandparents marriage license. Oscar Delbert Boultinghouse & Nancy Ella Martin married on Jan. 15, 1915. After they married in 1915, they lived on what has always been known to me as the Old … Continue reading Let Me Tell You About Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

I Was A Kid With Few Talents

lewisotr

In fact I think I could only do approximately two unusual things. One of those I tried out while sitting in the barber chair this morning. Now mind you it wasn’t the first time I’d tried a barber out on this but in memory it’s the first time I ever got a real reaction. As this young gal started to clip the ear hair, I started my ear wiggling routine. Of course I could see her look in the mirror, so as she’d get close with the clipper, I’d let my big ole ears start moving back and forth. She … Continue reading I Was A Kid With Few Talents

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Kenny Lewis, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

My Brother Is Not A Drug Lord (from 2015)

lewisotr

A good many years ago I rolled up at my brothers house in the middle of the morning on a weekday, unannounced. I knew he was at home, but had no idea what I was walking into. Knowing he was home along, I started to just walk on in, but the door was locked. I knocked and he came and unbolted the door and let me in. Okay, Just so you know I called him before I wrote this to see if he minded me writing about it – “I don’t give a damn. I ended up having to put … Continue reading My Brother Is Not A Drug Lord (from 2015)

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

I Really Didn’t Want To Go To The Army

lewisotr

I was 19 years old and had a low draft number. We got on a bus in Lampasas early in the morning for a trip up to Abilene for our physical, some time in the spring of 1972. I had many reasons that made me think I wasn’t cut out for Military Life. First off I had been hearing back from my brother about how miserable life was in Vietnam. Secondly I had been watching the television news at night and they were saying what a terrible situation we were in over there and how there didn’t seem to be … Continue reading I Really Didn’t Want To Go To The Army

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, The History of Texas, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Bump Gates

lewisotr

Probably Nothing Banged Up More Pickups Than The Bump Gate. Being a Hill Country Boy, I never got much practice using a Bump Gate. They are mostly something from West and South Texas. I’ve heard of lots of calamities with city slickers and Yankees trying to use them. Either running into them at full speed to not going through them fast enough. Not to even talk about pulling to long a trailer through one. I think it’s probably something you need to watch a pro operate them a few times before you decide to do it yourself. I guess they … Continue reading Bump Gates

Amazing Things, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

An Amazing Seamstress

lewisotr

I always knew my Grandmother, Leona Purcell Lewis (Nonie or Aunt Nonie to many) was a great seamstress, but I guess I didn’t know how early in her life she had that talent. In 1933 she made this wedding dress for her little sister Amanda “Mandy” Purcell Lewis. Leona was but 22 years old at the time she sewed this wedding dress. She was raised on a farm in the community of High Grove, Bastrop County, Texas and had no formal training. It was surely a gift of God and being raised up in a hard working family. I’ve been … Continue reading An Amazing Seamstress

Amazing Things, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Saying Goodbye, for the Time Being

lewisotr

Many of us gathered at the Smithwick Cemetery today, Saturday March 12, 2022 to celebrate the wonderful life of Mona Gayle Waldrip. Always such a beautiful and classy lady. (My apologies for the glare on a couple of these photos) I knew she had several books, but I’m not sure I realized there were this many. These were laid out on a table for us all to view and enjoy. The following book, Mona Gayle’s recording of the history of The Smithwick Cemetery is something we all will continue to enjoy and learn from. For this great work by Mona … Continue reading Saying Goodbye, for the Time Being

Aging, Amazing Things, Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

Charlie & Minnie Campbell – A Love Story

lewisotr

This is a story about an old couple that showed up in Smithwick when I was just a kid. One day Minnie and Charlie Campbell arrived in an old Studebaker car. When people around Smithwick said their name, they always left off the “p” and the “b”. It was Charlie and Minnie Camel. I had never heard them mentioned in my 10 or 12 years or so I’d been around at that time in the early part of the 1960s. But that’s not surprising as they weren’t a very remarkable couple, until I got to know them. Then there was … Continue reading Charlie & Minnie Campbell – A Love Story