Going To Vernal, Utah

I took my wife to the airport this morning (Friday actually) where she caught a flight out to Denver. By tomorrow she and three others in her party will be in Vernal, Utah. A several day rafting trip down the Green River is in her future. As we drove to the airport I ask her if she remembered that we almost moved to Vernal Utah some fifty years ago. She very much acted as if she had no idea what I was saying. I went on to explain that a few months after we married, in the middle of 1972, … Continue reading Going To Vernal, Utah

The Women That Shaped Me

I grew up with more women than men surrounding me, at least in my family. My Mother, Bonnie Gay Boultinghouse Lewis Bonnie Gay would have been 89 this year. 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, 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 … Continue reading The Women That Shaped Me

Let Me Talk To You About Crosses

This Unity Cross was a post from 2 years ago. I’m very proud to have made this and that my “kids” cherish it. I know I do good work. I say that honestly. I know when something is done well. but mostly this is so beautiful, because the wood is so beautiful. Nothing is prettier than mesquite wood. Take a piece of good Texas Mesquite and it’s hard to mess it up. Cut out a nice shape and hone on it, shape it, sand it and sand it and the next thing you know, you have something that will be … Continue reading Let Me Talk To You About Crosses

Reflecting Back On Cecil Lewis

This is something I wrote about my Dad, Cecil Lewis, not long after The Angora Chronicles was inaugurated. While Cecil Lewis wasn’t a perfect man, he did something for Kenny and Me both. He taught us about hard work and keeping to our word. If a man is paying you, then give him a days worth of work. If you tell a man something, you damn well better stick to your word. Those lessons were never forgotten. He gave us every opportunity to learn how to operate every kind of machine there was. He taught us how to work on … Continue reading Reflecting Back On Cecil Lewis

The Ugly Phone Call

I was sitting in the office one morning a few years ago and had received several solicitation calls. I was busy and was fed up with all nonsense calls when the phone rang again. It was an area code I didn’t recognize at all. I picked that phone and the guy said “Hello Ron, This is Dave out here in New Jersey, how is everything going down in Texas?”. I launched into a complete tirade about how sick I was of getting these $:;@/”:?!)$ phone calls, and to never call here again. He had sounded just like the several other … Continue reading The Ugly Phone Call

The Best Resource There Is For Texas History

I know most of you love history, Texas History for sure. This is a list of some of the very best FB Groups on Texas History. One thing all these groups have in common are their Creators/Administrators. My FB friends, Bob Dunn and Will Beauchamp have done a wonderful job of bringing us just about anything you can think of when it comes to Texas History. Browse through the list below and find something you are interested in and take a look. Many of you belong to these fine groups but you may not realize how many others there are. … Continue reading The Best Resource There Is For Texas History

My Ol’ Daddy Didn’t Live A Good Clean Life

No apologies for that, as I can almost guarantee you what he would have said if someone offered their opinion on the matter. He smoked his whole life from about age 9. He drank heavily except for about a decade and half, which was from when I was born until I became a teenager. But before that time he was hell on wheels and after that time he became legendary around Smithwick and beyond. Cecil Lewis lived his life throwing caution to the wind. He didn’t spend a lot of his time contemplating his next move. He just got a … Continue reading My Ol’ Daddy Didn’t Live A Good Clean Life

Cecil Lewis Wasn’t Always A Patient Man

It wouldn’t be hard to take away from my previous stories that Cec wasn’t a perfect man in every way. He was hard on us boys. Not just his sons, but all those that worked for him or even just hung out with us. He wanted stuff done and done then. He didn’t take to a lot of foot dragging. For any of his faults he could fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. But as strange at it may seem, if anything broke or got wrecked, he always kept his cool. It was as if at … Continue reading Cecil Lewis Wasn’t Always A Patient Man