Category: My Family

Aging, Amazing Things, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, My Family, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

My Ol’ Daddy Didn’t Live A Good Clean Life

lewisotr

No apologies for that, as I can almost guarantee you what he would have said if someone offered their opinion on the matter. He smoked his whole life from about age 9. He drank heavily except for about a decade and half, which was from when I was born until I became a teenager. But before that time he was hell on wheels and after that time he became legendary around Smithwick and beyond. Cecil Lewis lived his life throwing caution to the wind. He didn’t spend a lot of his time contemplating his next move. He just got a … Continue reading My Ol’ Daddy Didn’t Live A Good Clean Life

Amazing Things, Cecil Lewis, My Family, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Cecil Lewis Wasn’t Always A Patient Man

lewisotr

It wouldn’t be hard to take away from my previous stories that Cec wasn’t a perfect man in every way. He was hard on us boys. Not just his sons, but all those that worked for him or even just hung out with us. He wanted stuff done and done then. He didn’t take to a lot of foot dragging. For any of his faults he could fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. But as strange at it may seem, if anything broke or got wrecked, he always kept his cool. It was as if at … Continue reading Cecil Lewis Wasn’t Always A Patient Man

Amazing Things, My Family, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Let Me Tell You About Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse

lewisotr

(My Mother’s Parents) This is a compilation of stories I wrote some time ago about my mother’s parents and what life was like back in the 20s and 30s in Smithwick, Texas. Much, if not all of their married life Nancy and Delbert was spent in Smithwick. Nancy was a member of the Martin Family from Burnet. I believe Delbert was raised primarily in Smithwick. My Maternal Grandparents marriage license. Oscar Delbert Boultinghouse & Nancy Ella Martin married on Jan. 15, 1915. After they married in 1915, they lived on what has always been known to me as the Old … Continue reading Let Me Tell You About Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse

Funny Happenings, In and Around Austin, My Family1 Comment

The Garage Sale

lewisotr

I have always enjoyed playing a practical joke on people, but no one as much as my Granny Ruby. She was always so humorous and would easily laugh at herself. Madeline and I had temporarily left Austin and were living in Houston where we had several projects going on. We still had our home in Austin so we would sometimes return to Austin on the weekends. This one weekend when we were in, my sis-in-law Karen told me that Granny Ruby, who lived in North Austin was having a garage sale and she was going to be taking stuff over … Continue reading The Garage Sale

Funny Happenings, In and Around Austin, My Family4 Comments

Granny Ruby and the Phone Call

lewisotr

One time around midnight back in the 60s, Granny Ruby (my dad’s birth mother) received a phone call. The person on the other end told her that he was with the phone company and there was an indication that something was wrong in her phone that was causing a problem at the switchboard. He explain that some times that would happen and it need immediate attention and with her help it could be remedied. Would she be willing to help? Being the good and helpful person she prided herself in being she said sure I’ll help. The fellow ask if … Continue reading Granny Ruby and the Phone Call

Crazy Times, My Family, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Are You Kin To Glenn Lewis, I Was Asked?

lewisotr

Earlier I was asked if I was kin to Glenn Lewis. Rather than answer that directly, I have copied a rough draft of the introduction of the book I am writing about Glenn Lewis. Toward the bottom of it it explains the kinship between Glenn and me. Remember this is a draft for the future, the introduction of a book about Glenn. It is my hope that sometime in the future, after COVID, a series of gatherings for the purpose of telling Glenn stories as well as personal visits to those that were around him and witnessed the many things … Continue reading Are You Kin To Glenn Lewis, I Was Asked?

Amazing Things, My Family, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

The Magical Minds Of Children

lewisotr

I was driving down the road this afternoon with my 4 year old granddaughter, Sofia in a car seat in the back. I’ve been experiencing issues with my brand spanking new hot tub, the one that I thought would never get installed. In the week since it got installed, there have been a series of it working fine, then suddenly it will throw a breaker and shut down. Then I get the tech out to fix. That’s already happened 3 times. This guy has been great. It’s obvious that he knows his business, but there are some real oddities happening. … Continue reading The Magical Minds Of Children

Crazy Times, My Family, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

The Battle Of The Smithwick Lewis Family

lewisotr

This story dates back to the late 1950s. I will be telling it from my perspective, which is the side I was born on. FP and Florence Lewis had a bunch of kids. There were two girls and seven boys (couple more died young) and they raised them in Smithwick. Best I know they had several pieces of property but our old home place was originally Stinnett land that they bought from Grandmother Florence’s family or inherited it. It was comprised of 450 acres that stretched from FM 1431 down to the Colorado River. It was approximately 1/2 mile of … Continue reading The Battle Of The Smithwick Lewis Family

My Family, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

We Took All The Boys Skiing

lewisotr

Soon after our trip on our Lake Tahoe Ski Trip, when I didn’t learn how to ski, Madeline was ready to take the 5 boys on their first ski adventure. I say Madeline was ready, because I had already retired from skiing after one trip to the top of a mountain. But figuring the boys would all go to ski school and then being young they’d catch on fast and everyone would have a good time. I didn’t mind just hanging out for a few days doing nothing. Madeline had made reservations at a nice resort in Keystone, Colorado. The … Continue reading We Took All The Boys Skiing

Aging, Amazing Things, My Family, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

The Little Things That Happen In Our Lives……….

lewisotr

Every day events in our life happen that shape history. I sometimes play the “IF” game with myself. The most simple occurrence, the conversations we have, the chance encounters change the course of everything that will happen for the rest of our lives and will impact the lives of so many others. The most important chance encounter that changed my life happened by simply stopping at a beer joint one afternoon. The old 281 Club, that many of you remember, used to set on the side of highway between San Antonio and Marble Falls at Round Mountain . One day … Continue reading The Little Things That Happen In Our Lives……….