Category: Crazy Times

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

J.P. And The Fancy Wheels And Tires

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The junk yard is what we called it. It was a 5 acre abandoned field up the hill and just out of sight of our house. It was on our land, but Cec let Hugh Hampton use it. He would bring wrecked cars in and strip them down for usable car parts then scrap the remaining pieces. One day a “63” (may have been a “64”) Chevy Impala was brought in that had been in a wreck and was pretty much totaled. It had belong to fellow Marble Falls schoolmate, Jerry Ford. It had a really nice set of wide … Continue reading J.P. And The Fancy Wheels And Tires

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Stolen Beer Caper

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Big Jimmy grew up across the highway at Smithwick, Texas from our Grandmother. Maw-Maw is what we called her, until in later years we called her Nonie, as she was called by many of her nieces and nephews. Nonie was derived from Leona, by her little brother years earlier. Jimmy helped Kenny & me haul hay and with other work around the place as we grew up. After getting his commercial driver’s license he started driving a dump truck for our Dad on weekends and after school. Since Kenny always had a girlfriend and became occupied with her, Jimmy and … Continue reading The Stolen Beer Caper

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Early Days, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Cleaning Golf Balls

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When all moved from Marble Falls we rented places Oak Hill, on Highway 71 out west of town. Madeline and I had our own mobile home. At the same trailer park in a rented trailer was Jimmy Palmer, Glenn Lewis and Jeff Carter. They mostly comprised my crew at that time. In the summertime of 1972 were working on a project at Lakeway. We were helping build a condo project, one of the first ones at Lakeway, which was a fairly small community in those days. One part of our project called for us to drain a pond at the … Continue reading Cleaning Golf Balls

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, My Friends, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Hay Hauling – Smithwick Style

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At 15 cents per bale, three young boys could make a fortune hauling hay or so we thought. Our Dad furnished the pickup, a 55 Chevy ¾ ton with a 4 speed and a 6 cylinder engine. But we had to pay for gas, which was cheap – $.30 per gal and flat repairs, which was a big unknown. We kept several spare tires around just in case. That’s what you did back in those days. Kenny was the driver, the pusher, the big boss man of the bunch. That left big Jimmy Palmer and me to load the hay … Continue reading Hay Hauling – Smithwick Style

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, My Friends, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Gift

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Some of my best memories growing up was hauling hay and doing the hard work. I’m not sure why those are my best memories, but they are. A few years ago when Madeline and I turned 60, our kids along with Kenny and Carol threw us a grand party out at Kenny’s place on Cow Creek. Jimmy Palmer brought me one of the best gifts I could have received. It was his hay hook that had hung in his barn for all these years. He wanted me to have it to remind me of the time that when he got … Continue reading The Gift

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, My Friends, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Big Jimmy Got An Ear Full

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I told you a story about Big Jimmy Palmer giving the workers Feenamint Gum on the job one day and we lost the whole crew for that day. I’m not sure if anyone around, including those workers knew what had happened or if they thought they’d eaten some bad taco’s for breakfast. Along about that same time period, while on the same job, Jimmy and I drove back and forth Marble Falls to Austin everyday. This was circa 1972. Since I was furnishing the pickup we figured Jimmy could do the driving. An arraignment that worked pretty well, especially for … Continue reading Big Jimmy Got An Ear Full

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Day Jimmy Shut The Job Down

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We were running short on work one time when Big Jimmy and I were young guys. We went over to help a competitor get caught up. Big Jimmy was a real pushover. He always carried packages of gum. All the labor crew would aggravate him about wanting a stick of gum. It was costing him a small fortune to keep them all in chewing gum. Or at least that was his claim. He was complaining about that when we made our morning stop at a store. There in the sundries were packages of Feen-A-Mint Gum. I said give them each … Continue reading The Day Jimmy Shut The Job Down

Crazy TimesLeave a comment

Don’t Always Believe What Your Children Tell You

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It was the mid 80’s. We were still living in south Austin on a secluded little street. It was a neighborhood anyone would want to live in, if you have to live in the city. We moved In with on Jan. 1, 1977 and spent a decade there. We had a 2 1/2 year old son when we moved in and by the time we left there our family had grown to a total of 5 sons. We were having a party. We had lots of parties. There were an abundance of friends and family there. The door bell rang. … Continue reading Don’t Always Believe What Your Children Tell You

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Marble Falls and the Area Around it.Leave a comment

A Story About My Great Great Grandparents, Hugh and Mary Ann Bible Clark

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This was taken from the very fine book “The Bible Family” by Naomi Chadwick. This account of an afternoon in the life of Hugh & Mary Ann Bible Clark. It was pretty much a fact of life in that time period. This story connects to many of us on this group. Often when I read this I think about how much the course of many of our live’s depended on that decision made on this mans way to the lot that day. Below was contributed by Grant Ray Thompson Hugh Clark I ran across this remarkable 1 inch square picture … Continue reading A Story About My Great Great Grandparents, Hugh and Mary Ann Bible Clark

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Early DaysLeave a comment

We Weren’t Made To Feel Welcome In Victoria, Texas

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Back in the late 70’s things were going pretty well for us in the construction business, but had slowed a bit. As things often happen, a miracle job fell out of the sky. A Burnet County fellow, Fritz Heine had gone off to Houston and was doing well contracting with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. I knew of Fritz but mostly just by name. He was a generation ahead of me, about my Dads age. He had a son named Henry that had finished his senior year of school in Marble Falls, then he came and worked for a year or … Continue reading We Weren’t Made To Feel Welcome In Victoria, Texas