Uncovering Coincidences

Leaving Corpus Christi this morning headed home. Saw a sign pointing to Rockport. Caused me to think of something that happened here on The Angora Chronicles once upon a time. It goes like this; There was a discussion about Dr. Woods in Marble Falls and how he delivered me. Someone mentioned that he had a brother that had a medical practice down in Rockport. We put 2 and 2 together and figure out that when Dr. Woods delivered me on Aug. 22, 1952, his bother delivered my wife 200 miles away just four days before on Aug. 18, 1952. Without … Continue reading Uncovering Coincidences

Just Another Strange Happening

When we were kids going to school in Jollyville, there were the Reeves boy’s that were the same age as Kenny and me. Donnie was Kenny’s age and Danny and I were in the same grade. We often visited each other’s house and played together. Then the Reeves’s cousin Elvin Horner came to live with them. He was a grade ahead Kenny and Donnie. The Reeves family moved and we lost touch with them. That was about 1963. By the mid 80s I was awarded a contract to construct a development project in Round Rock. When we got started building … Continue reading Just Another Strange Happening

As I Sit Here Thinking About Coincidences

My many stories of my friend Dink, conjures up yet another story. As I’ve said before, I many times needed to check in on Dink because we had a business deal that wasn’t working out as planned. Since I never knew where he was, there was a network of his friends that I talked to and would report Dink sightings. I had heard that he may be heading to Austin soon, after a jaunt in Alaska or some other far away place. I knew he always stayed at the Colonial Inn in far south Austin when he was in town. … Continue reading As I Sit Here Thinking About Coincidences

My Dad Never Showed Me How To Fish With A Rod And Reel

My dad was too figgitity to sit and fish. He picked things to do that would keep him on the move. Cec never watched sports either, that would require sitting in one spot for a few minutes. He never was much on sitting in a movie theater, either. If he did go to a movie he’d be up and down 20 times, coming and going. We took Bonnie Gay and Cecil with us to a music concert, I think it was a time Tammy Wynette and George Jones came to the Palmer Auditorium. I think Charley Pride was there too. … Continue reading My Dad Never Showed Me How To Fish With A Rod And Reel

On Being A Father

Being a dad has been one of the greatest things I’ve ever done. When I watch all my boys travel through their own lives, and doing it right, I feel like my part is mostly done. Never having a real rough patch with any one of the five boys, has been a true blessing. Of course there have been a little spat here and there. If there hadn’t been, it would be because they were just going along with whatever I said. Then they wouldn’t be their own man. The main thing is we’ve never been estranged for more than … Continue reading On Being A Father

It Took Me Weeks To Figure Out Why She Was Upset.

No long after we married in 1971, I came home with Madeline a brand new 1972 Dodge Demon automobile. It was an absolute beauty. White with a White Pearlescent Vinyl Top and Snowy White Interior. Very sporty but not in a hot rod sort of way. More in a very hot, young chick sort of way. That baby had all the beauty and innocents that my new wife had. My Dad had gone with me to Austin to buy it. I needed him to drive my pickup back. What better thing could a new husband do than go buy the … Continue reading It Took Me Weeks To Figure Out Why She Was Upset.

Eat More Goat

That is if you can afford it. The popularity of eating goats has sure driven up the price. Something about eating goat meat that really appeals to me. It’s not the taste or the texture. It has more to do with nostalgia. At Smithwick Homecoming time, at those long sheet iron pits out under the liveoak trees at the site of the old Smithwick School House (now the Smithwick Community Center) waiting for one of the men to cut off a sample is where my love of goat meat started. Fresh and hot, right off the pit. The sop that … Continue reading Eat More Goat

Dennis Gerald Skinner – Burnet County Hero

Yesterday a story was floated around here about a young child that was brought before the whole school or at least his class and given licks for taking something that didn’t belong to him. I wasn’t present when it happened but somehow I remember hearing about it. It was sort of a legendary thing around campus, I guess. I knew Dennis in a very minor way, running across him from time to time. The last time, he came and interviewed with me for a job, sometime in the late 1990’s. I remember we met at a job site near US … Continue reading Dennis Gerald Skinner – Burnet County Hero

And This Fellow Loaned Me, A Complete Stranger $50,000

Back in the Winfield days of my construction career, we found ourselves a bit short of making a payroll one week. Winfield went to his former employer, the owner of a large CPA firm in Austin and asked him to make us a loan. Without any hesitation he agreed to spot us $50,000. His only request was that I come down to his office so we could meet. I met Winfield there and we went in. Without additional fanfare Mr. Simpson called his check writer person’s extension and requested a check. We walked out of that office with a check, … Continue reading And This Fellow Loaned Me, A Complete Stranger $50,000

Bat Guano Mining Around The Area and Blowout, Texas

Bat Guano Mining During The Civil War:https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dkc09 I have never heard of this place or such a thing happening over by Johnson City or Round Mt. or Willow City. Blowout, TexasMore on primitive bat dooky mining and the hazards associated.http://www.texasescapes.com/MichaelBarr/Blowout.htm Blowout Community, a settlement fifteen miles northwest of Johnson City in northwestern Blanco County, dates back to 1854. That year a party of two dozen homesteaders from Kentucky settled on the east side of Comanche Creek near Comanche Spring, about three miles below the creek’s origin. As more settlers moved into the area the small community of Blowout developed upstream … Continue reading Bat Guano Mining Around The Area and Blowout, Texas