Category: Past Angora Chronicles Stories

Past Angora Chronicles Stories, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Vernon Blizzard

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I found out years later it was Blisard. With the temperatures cooling down a little, let me tell you about a Blizzard I once experienced. His name was Vernon Blizzard. He worked with my grandmother Ruby at the State School that was in West Austin in the early 60s. I don’t know what Vernon did at work but away from work he traded in Shetland Ponies. He didn’t just deal in them he was was a major Shetland Pony Trafficker. If you, like many parents of that day wanted your child to have a Shetland Pony you went to Vernon … Continue reading Vernon Blizzard

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, On The Job, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings5 Comments

The Disease

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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

Crazy Times, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

The Highway Patrolman At Paleface Park

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Besides racing Shetland’s at Paleface and eating lots of BBQ at the old Paleface Store, I have one other story that connects to Paleface. Kenny and I together with our wives were heading to Luling for our great grandmother Purcell’s birthday celebration on a Sunday morning. I was driving Madeline’s 1974 Pontiac Granville. This incident happened in 1975 or 1976, given the car we were in. Most likely I was exceeding the speed limit. Oh of course I was. They had reduced the speed limit to a maximum of 55 MPH, so almost everyone broke the speed limit. How were … Continue reading The Highway Patrolman At Paleface Park

Crazy Times, My Friends, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Winfield and the Wimberley Bank

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I thought that the incident with Winfield and the speeding tickets had taught him a lesson. I found out later how clueless I was about what all was going on in that man’s head. If you set and listened to him you would really take him to be just a big talker, but you knew he wanted to make it big one day. He had been around a couple of years by this time and my business was going through a very tumultuous time. My bills were all behind, creditors were beating our door down and Winfield was spending most … Continue reading Winfield and the Wimberley Bank

Aging, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

The Lady With the Beautiful Green Eyes

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In the spring of 1969, my dad had a trailer truck that he would send down below San Antonio to pickup carpet grass and deliver around up in the Marble Falls area. There was a man and his wife that built a new house just down off of Haynie Flat Road near Paleface Ranch. The house was right on top of a big bluff overlooking the Pedernales River. It was a very nice, ultra-fancy place for those days. We had the job of hauling a bunch of good topsoil in, to go over the rocks. I got several of my … Continue reading The Lady With the Beautiful Green Eyes

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, Meeting New People, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Hood Wasn’t Fastened And Blew Open At The Most Inopportune Moment

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A month before Madeline and I married in 1971, I had a 3 year old Ford Galaxy 500 and I rear ended a Williamson Country Road Maintenance Pickup in Liberty Hill, completely demolishing the front end. It took a couple of months to get it out of the shop. I finally got it out of the body shop on a Friday afternoon. On Saturday we were leaving for the Jordan Christmas Party in Houston. The Jordan Christmas Party was a huge deal. I had made every excuse imaginable about why I didn’t need to go. I didn’t know any of … Continue reading The Hood Wasn’t Fastened And Blew Open At The Most Inopportune Moment

Amazing Things, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Texas History, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Uvalde Rock Asphalt Company (continuous since 1912) and White’s Uvalde Mines (since 1923).

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This area down out of Uvalde, Texas is unique in that there is mining of asphalt, ready to pave a road as it is dug from the ground. Limestone gravel coated with an asphaltic bitumen content similar to that produced in operating asphalt plants. Many roads in south Texas have been paved with this product. I’m not certain that it meets TxDot specifications to pave state highways without farther processing, but it looks and acts like a hot mix/cold lay material produced in just about any asphalt plant and used mostly on private roads and temporary patches. On a personal … Continue reading Uvalde Rock Asphalt Company (continuous since 1912) and White’s Uvalde Mines (since 1923).

Amazing Things, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Mechanical Calf

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This story was originally told by me back on Oct. 4, 2016. When You’re Me, I Never Know What I’m Going To Be Thinking About When I Wake Up In The Middle Of The Night. This morning I woke up around 3:30, which happens way too often. The first thing that popped on my mind was a fellow I met in about 1971. I knew Leroy fairly well for a few years. He worked for another utility contractor, one that we had a working relationship with. Leroy ran their shop and was very mechanically inclined. As I got to know … Continue reading The Mechanical Calf

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Smithwick, The Early Days3 Comments

Cec And The Soldier

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Cecil was my Dad. My brother and I called him Cec. No one else did. It was our name for him. He was from the old school as they say. He had a very rough exterior. Come to think of it he had a rough interior too. He was in the construction and trucking businesses. He worked hard his whole life. I always thought he was the toughest man I knew. He never backed away from anything or anybody. Once when I was about 13 or 14, my friend Billy Gene Henry and I accompanied Cec on a trip to … Continue reading Cec And The Soldier

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Kenny Lewis, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Smithwick, The Early Days1 Comment

The Flying Stick

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It was my 16th year of life. My brother Kenny was in college up at Tarleton, his second semester and had moved into an apartment, that had formerly been occupied by a cop he was told. The cop had left a night stick behind. Kenny was sure that I would need that club one day, so he brought it home to me. He always looked out for me like that. The wooden stick had been drilled through the core had a steel rod inserted. I kept it stuck between the seat and the console. My means of transportation was a … Continue reading The Flying Stick