Kenny’s Gift To Me and The Story Of The Homeless Woman

Kenny went off to an auction one Saturday where wildlife and birds of all kinds were being sold. This was at the very end of the big ostrich craze. You all remember that don’t you? There have been several others too, the Emu , the Llama, the Alpaca where anybody that’s anybody has to have some if they ever expect to become wealthy. Anyway Kenny decided my little estate could use a couple of the giant birds. So unbeknownst to me he pulled in and opened the trailer gate and made me the proud owner of the two ostriches. Like … Continue reading Kenny’s Gift To Me and The Story Of The Homeless Woman

George and the Misunderstanding

One day back in the late 1970s Cecil, our dad, called and asked if we could do a favor for George. George is Smithwick’s own George Despain. They both knew we did a lot business with Holt Caterpillar. “Would we put a set of dozer tracks on our account, so George could get the best deal possible”? George would give Cec a check for the bill. We readily agreed to it. Wasn’t any skin off of us. George got his tracks all was great. Kenny nor I gave it much thought, figuring that Cec gave the check to the other … Continue reading George and the Misunderstanding

Kenny Lewis; Driving In Mexico

Back a few years ago Kenny had a ranch in Mexico. It was just a little ways out of Ciudad Acuna, the Mexico counterpart to Del Rio, Texas. There was a large group of guys there one weekend to hunt. A couple of high powered attorney’s, a banker and a few other business men. A very diverse group at that, in age and demeanor. Kenny had a full staff that worked the kitchen and lodge, but he decided that a trip into town on Saturday night would liven things up, as if it needed to be livened up. So he … Continue reading Kenny Lewis; Driving In Mexico

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

The GMC Toro-Flow

Back in about 1967 Cecil Lewis, my dad, went off somewhere, probably Austin or San Antonio and bought a 1964 GMC truck. That GMC had perhaps the weakest engine ever put in a truck. It was a single axle with a winch that he paired up with a single axle float type trailer that he had recently purchased. Now here’s the deal, that float trailer was an oil field float. You knew that because it had a rolling tail bar on it and it was built extra heavy duty. Anything going into the oil field needed to be built strong. … Continue reading The GMC Toro-Flow

My Brother Is Not A Drug Lord (from 2015)

A good many years ago I rolled up at my brothers house in the middle of the morning on a weekday, unannounced. I knew he was at home, but had no idea what I was walking into. Knowing he was home along, I started to just walk on in, but the door was locked. I knocked and he came and unbolted the door and let me in. Okay, Just so you know I called him before I wrote this to see if he minded me writing about it – “I don’t give a damn. I ended up having to put … Continue reading My Brother Is Not A Drug Lord (from 2015)

The Lewis Brothers Became A Little Intimidated (originally told in 2014)

I’ve been searching for the right way to tell this story and there just doesn’t seem like a real right way. While spending time today with Kenny, he asked if I’d ever gotten around to telling it. So here goes. One day while driving through Marble, we encountered 2 very big, very black, very tough looking fellows in their 1960s something Cadillac Pimpmobile. This was about 1969 or 70. Kenny and I have differing memories when it comes to how this all began, but the end result is, he or I one of the other must have honked our horn … Continue reading The Lewis Brothers Became A Little Intimidated (originally told in 2014)

Hunting at the Cinco Loma

(Another very fine story from Kenny Lewis) Back in the 90’s we searched various ranches for the best hunts available in South Texas. We had gotten to know Dusty Davis who owned the Cinco Loma Ranch between Batesville and La Pryor. It was not a large ranch (2500 acres), but with high quality deer. This ranch was along Highway 57 on the way to Eagle Pass and surrounded on 3 sides by a large ranch called the West Wind. Larry Martin owned it and was a very successful business man from Houston who had sold his Waste Company for Millions … Continue reading Hunting at the Cinco Loma

The Double Tailed Quarters

There was a time in the 80s when times were really good in the construction business. I was flying high, as was Kenny and our friend Coy. We all had our own businesses but we worked together at times, hiring each other’s companies to help out on projects. Kenny & Coy had a lot more in common with each other than with me. During that phase of their lives they each were without the benefit of a wife at the time or at least they acted like it. They worked hard and partied hard as the old saying goes. Now … Continue reading The Double Tailed Quarters