Let’s But A New Roomy Car For These 5 Boys

Not too long after we had a whole house full of kids I went and bought Madeline a new suburban. It was a GMC and it was actually demonstrator. When I got home we started looking for the backseat. I figured it was folded down and you just couldn’t see it. Come to figure out it didn’t come with a third seat. It would’ve been bolted in. So I went back and told them to order me one and they said that they couldn’t because it wasn’t equipped with the mounts for the seat or the seatbelts. So trying to … Continue reading Let’s But A New Roomy Car For These 5 Boys

This Is Called “Living In The Past”

A few years ago, when it was time to grab one of the big machines and take off across Texas, Charlie “Speedy” Leseman would get this rig all shined up and head out to wherever it was he needed to go. I don’t care what anyone says, that was a heavy haul rig. I was always proud to see those black trucks (there were others too) pulling out of a job loaded down and going to the next one. There’s a time and a place for everything. So now those are just fond memories. Continue reading This Is Called “Living In The Past”

The Sideboards

When I ran across the post below about the Bois D’arc tree, it conjured up a memory from more than 60 years ago. We were living down on the creek out of Jollyville. Cec, our dad bought a 3/4 Chevrolet Pickup. It had been a Texas Highway Department truck in its first life. So it was yellow with the huge logo sanded off the doors. Later on he even painted it green. Not a green anyone else on earth would have chosen for a pickup truck. It was something of a mint green, but not a true mint green. It … Continue reading The Sideboards

The Disease

It was in the hot summer time and I was out of school for the summer. I was about 14 or 15 years old and working for my Dad, Cecil Lewis. We were building a road down by Turkey Bend. Just country roads are all we built back then, hauling and spreading out caliche for new subdivision roads. I always ran the loader, loading the five or six dump trucks that hauled the caliche. The trucks were driven mostly by our school age friends, the ones at least sixteen and could get a commercial license. Socks Jackson was the mechanic … Continue reading The Disease

On A Quest To Buy A Truck

On the day after Thanksgiving in 1977 Kenny and I went to Cross Plains, Texas to look at a potential truck purchase to haul our equipment with. We started out from Smithwick. We were both there with our families where we were spending the holidays with our mom and dad. Being a 3 hour trip up to northwest we left early in the morning and arrived in Cross Plains by 8:00 AM. We had seen an ad for this used truck dealer in a magazine. When we got there, they had a sea of trucks on the lot. We test … Continue reading On A Quest To Buy A Truck

Circling 4-Wheelers

Back in the winter of 1984, Kenny had a deer lease on several thousand acres of south Texas land between Laredo and Freer. He was so gracious to ask me down a few times. (or anytime I wanted to come). Once when several people were there, but all still out hunting, he and I both arrived back at camp, a nice house actually, on our 4-wheelers. The timing was such that coming from opposite directions we reached the big open gravel parking lot in front of the house at the same time. Skillfully we head for each other but turned … Continue reading Circling 4-Wheelers

Doing A Head-Plant In The Mud

I was 17 years old. Lake Travis was really low like it often is. We had a D-7 bulldozer and a Cat 12 motorgrader down along the bottom land adjacent to the water, cleaning up and leveling out so when the lake came back up. We knew it wouldn’t stay smooth but Cec had a good idea. Mainly something to keep me busy. My helper was David Jordan, my one day in the future brother in law. He was a couple of years younger than me. If I remember correctly it had been a fairly uneventful day, that is until … Continue reading Doing A Head-Plant In The Mud

Daddy, is you just gonna leave your twailer there?

Matthew was the age that he wanted to go with me everywhere I went. Him being the oldest son, with a new little brother at home. We left the house early that Sunday morning and was making the 8 or 10 mile trip to our Construction Office/Yard, where I was going to unhook from the rather heavy built shop-made bumper pull trailer we had on behind. Back then, in the 1970s you could drive around Austin without running across all that many other cars on the road on an early Sunday morning trip. Matthew, about 4 years old was standing … Continue reading Daddy, is you just gonna leave your twailer there?

Cousins Growing Up Together

These two girls, Anna & Sofia are best friends and live next door to each other as well as next door to us. So we enjoy watching their exploits every day. It is possible for them to get out of sorts with each other from time to time, but within minutes everything is all better. Their Grandma & I are away for a few days. Last night we got a text with this picture (it will be in the comments) of them already asleep in Gma’s bed, each with their favorite blanket. Well before the sun went down. But surely … Continue reading Cousins Growing Up Together

The Sprinkle Bottle

I had almost forgotten about sprinkle bottles. I remember my mother would layout the ironing, sprinkle them with water, roll each piece up tightly and store them in the refrigerator. Or it may have been in the freezer. I guess it depended on how long until she started ironing. Something about they ironed better when cold. Of course she had her routine. Certain days were ironing days. She’d stand in front of that little black and white television, watching The Guiding Light, Search For Tomorrow and As The World Turns. I’m thinking As The World Turns was her favorite. She … Continue reading The Sprinkle Bottle