Category: Amazing Things

Amazing Things, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

Cecil Lewis And The Navy

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My Dad went away at an early age to fight for this country, during World War II. The picture shows him at the age of 17. He served most of his time on the USS South Dakota, a battleship. He was contacted by the USS South Dakota Association and sent a package sometime in the late 70s and was ask to deliver it and present it at a ceremony being held at the Battleship Texas, next to the San Jacinto Monument near Houston. Kenny and I accompanied him to that dedication one Saturday morning. We left Smithwick early, very early, … Continue reading Cecil Lewis And The Navy

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

More About Pond Springs School

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I attended a 3 room school in Jollyville for my first 7 years.First – Third in one room.Forth – Sixth in another.Seventh & Eighth in the other. By the time I got to the 7th grade there were only 2 grades per room with the 8th grade being eliminated and the 7th grade was moved into the Principal’s office. It was a big Principal’s office, but it doubled as the mimeograph room, the ice cream store and storage too. (Picture included below) More on the ice cream store at a later date.The enrollment had grown to where the little school … Continue reading More About Pond Springs School

Aging, Amazing Things, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment
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I’m Not Sure They Ever Bought Into My Jollyville Stories

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Below is a screenshot of a story I wrote one time about how my early life was and how telling my own sons (and my very skeptical wife) about it and the friendships I made all those many years ago at the little country school I attended. It truly was and is a magical part of my life. Facebook has helped me to reconstruct so much of that era through reconnecting with so many of those early friends made six decades and more ago. My Memories Live On Thru Facebook And The Angora Chronicles. Continue reading I’m Not Sure They Ever Bought Into My Jollyville Stories

Amazing Things, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

The Smells Of Going To School In The “Old Days” At Pond Springs.

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Our 7th grade classroom was the principals office which also doubled as the administration office. Mr.Scotty Pyle, the Principal, taught us. A Ditto machine like the picture below was kept in that room. In the days before a Xerox Machine, methanol and isopropanol was used in the duplicating process. That smell was always present in that room. It being a 3 classroom school, each teacher taught 2 grades, so 3 teachers, the principle (he was our teacher), the lunchroom lady and her helper. There may have been a janitor/maintenance man, but I don’t remember one. The kids swept the floors … Continue reading The Smells Of Going To School In The “Old Days” At Pond Springs.

Amazing Things, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Nothing Says Class Like A Nice Hood Ornament

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Seen on a “64” Chevy Pickup in Liberty Hill a while back. Quite a few years ago I had a fellow that worked for me. In fact he still works for me and has since he was just a kid, in the late 70s. Heck we were all kids back then. Manual is of Mexican descent and he like many of those fellows, didn’t mind adding a bit of class to their vehicles. I guess in today’s terms, it would be called bling. Manual had a fairly nice Chevy pickup and one day he showed up to work with a … Continue reading Nothing Says Class Like A Nice Hood Ornament

Amazing Things, My Family, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

The Magical Minds Of Children

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I was driving down the road this afternoon with my 4 year old granddaughter, Sofia in a car seat in the back. I’ve been experiencing issues with my brand spanking new hot tub, the one that I thought would never get installed. In the week since it got installed, there have been a series of it working fine, then suddenly it will throw a breaker and shut down. Then I get the tech out to fix. That’s already happened 3 times. This guy has been great. It’s obvious that he knows his business, but there are some real oddities happening. … Continue reading The Magical Minds Of Children

Amazing Things, The Early Days, The Jollyville Years3 Comments

Capital Plaza And Greasy The Pig

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When I was 9 years old, in November 1961, Austin was a very different place. It got it’s first shopping mall. It was called Capital Plaza Shopping Center. It wasn’t anything like some of the ones that would follow. Hancock Mall, Highland Mall, & Barton Creek Mall were a decade or so later. The center piece of Capital Plaza was a Montgomery Wards Department Store. There were about two dozen other stores located within the center. The first McDonalds in Austin was built there. Prior to this time there there were small little strip centers, like Delwood and of course … Continue reading Capital Plaza And Greasy The Pig

Aging, Amazing Things, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Old Man Cardwell

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When we were young, I would have been a preteen, we went all over Smithwick horseback. Mostly it was Kenny, Jimmy Palmer, Glenn Lewis and me, but sometimes other boys in the community joined in. I guess it had more to do with whether a youngster had access to a horse. Everett and Maude Jackson had the little store beside the road just below the cemetery, back towards the church house. The store had really limited fare. Mostly snacks and soda pops. Maybe some soda crackers and Vienna Sausages or potted meat. I don’t remember there being many perishables. Seems … Continue reading Old Man Cardwell

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, My Friends, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and Musings, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Pete and the Boulder Busters

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Times have changed a lot in the 50 years that I’ve been in the construction business. The only economical way to excavate rock for installing underground utilities in the first 10 years was blasting with dynamite. It tapered off over the next decades to where that method is rarely even used today. We blasted up and down streets in very congested areas. In my first 4 or 5 years there wasn’t even a city permit required in Austin to transport and use explosives. Anyone dealing with the City of Austin now, would find that hard to believe. Now you need … Continue reading Pete and the Boulder Busters

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One Of The Greatest Things I Was Ever A Part Of

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In the fall of 2013 I made plans to go to Washington DC. Madeline and I drove to New Orleans where we boarded the Amtrak Train and made the two day and one night trip to DC. We had reserved a sleeper berth so it was a fairly easy trip. We arrived and got to our hotel. Madeline was only there for a short time, maybe a day, then she flew away to a meeting, to which I can’t even remember where, these 8 1/2 years later. It was a little difficult getting around town on that trip. We had … Continue reading One Of The Greatest Things I Was Ever A Part Of