The Wreck At The South End Of The Marble Falls Bridge

Early one Sunday morning with it raining and the road slick, I had taken Kenny out to the Pure Stone Quarry to pick up a dump truck. I would have been 14 or 15 years old. For whatever reason they thought a 14 year old had any business back in those days. It was just becoming light and as I came down the hill and that old “63” short wheelbased, step-side Chevrolet pickup spun out and smacked the guardrail right on the end of the bridge. I was more than likely going too fast for the conditions. Let me back … Continue reading The Wreck At The South End Of The Marble Falls Bridge

Pecans – A major source of income for many families

Pecan trees bloom in the spring, usually in late April or early May, although the exact time depends on the cultivar. The trees produce separate male and female flowers on the same tree. The flowers rarely bloom at the same time, however; one tree must pollinate with another cultivar to produce a crop of nuts. In general, pecan trees in Texas fully ripen during a seven-week period from early October through the first week of December. Many of us had family members that used money from picking up pecans as a major source of their yearly income. It was always easy to tell who had been picking up … Continue reading Pecans – A major source of income for many families

Melvin Wright and The Country Store

You know you haven’t strayed too far from your early years when you can go to the refrigerator and make yourself a sandwich with ham, jalapeño cheese and Best Maid Sandwich Spread on plain white bread on a Saturday Night and it tastes just like Melvin Wright had made at the Country Store well over 50 years ago. Of course I’d always get me a bag of BBQ flavored potato chips and a quart of Superior Dairies Chocolate Milk. The milk was to wash it down and the chocolate part was my dessert. It tends to make me feel a … Continue reading Melvin Wright and The Country Store

Let Me Tell You About John And About Friendship

John and I had many parallels in our lives. We both arrived in Marble Falls the same year, in the 8th grade. We both graduated five years later, in May of 1970, as did each of our future wives. All four of us were merely 19 years old when we married; both couples have been married every since. John went to college and I went straight on to work after high school. Very soon we each were in business. Therefore, neither of us really worked for anyone after just a short time, spending our whole lives in business for ourselves. … Continue reading Let Me Tell You About John And About Friendship

Just About The Most Insane Thing I’ve Seen

And I’ve seen some insane things. Seeing the video’s yesterday of the big wind generator blades coming through Marble Town, after coming up Texas 71 out of Austin, then turning on on FM 2147 and going through Horseshoe Bay and turning north on US 281. The question was raised of why didn’t they just turn at the 281/71 intersection? That would the seem the most logical, in anyone’s estimation. Nice loop around out there get from one highway to the other. But it has to do with permitting. All highway construction is marked on a master map at TxDot so … Continue reading Just About The Most Insane Thing I’ve Seen

The Story Of The Lost Class Ring

I received a call one day not long ago from a fellow asking for my help locating the owner of a Marble Falls class ring from more than 50 years ago. This may all seem cryptic, but I’m no long looking for the owner so I don’t care to cause a stir, but it’s an interesting story. We knew the year, that it was a boys ring and the markings showed that this person was involved in a couple of activities that had a symbols of each on the ring. We knew it most likely was lost by a girl, … Continue reading The Story Of The Lost Class Ring

Lee Odiorne’s Tombstone

While this is the grave marker that is on his grave, there was another one that set on his front porch for years. He had commissioned the original one to be made with the epitaph as you see below. Sometime prior to his death his house caught fire. The roof of the porch came crashing down, breaking off the top left corner. It was made from limestone. Upon his death, his sister took the broken one to a monument maker in Llano and had it replicated. The old one was left leaning against a fence, and it being made from … Continue reading Lee Odiorne’s Tombstone

Eating Foods You Hate

When I was about 13 years old, on a hot summer day Cec took me to a John Deere Front End Loader on the top of Taylor Mountain, as we always called it. From up there you could see Marble Falls, because you were up there looking down across the town. It was far into the distance. I was clearing off brush on several lots and then leveling them up for future house site. It was early in the morning when he dropped me and I didn’t think about taking a jug of water. When noon rolled around I had … Continue reading Eating Foods You Hate

Four Wrecks All Happened Within Minutes

It was the Friday afternoon of opening weekend of deer season, in 1968. The calamities started when Kenny, in a Ford Falcon, pulled out from the Gulf Station in Marble Falls. He and his squeeze at the time, Karen, were going to head northbound. I think Kenny was paying more attention to the redhead sitting next to him than he was to the heavy traffic, as he got t-boned by a Houston attorney that was up to go hunting. The attorneys car was a brand new Oldmobile 98 with 250 miles on it. No one was hurt seriously, but both … Continue reading Four Wrecks All Happened Within Minutes

What Is A Good Wage To Pay A Feller?

The talk goes on and on about what the minimum wage should be. It is commonly referred to now as a living wage. This is not going to be a commentary on that issue. The first minimum wage I read was $.25 per hour back in the 30’s. When I entered the workforce in the early 70’s I think it was around $1.60 per hr. Graduating high school in 1970, left me bouncing around doing several jobs for the first few months. I had an independent streak going, so I didn’t stay tied down to any one thing for very … Continue reading What Is A Good Wage To Pay A Feller?