Category: Smithwick

Another Daily Happening, Cecil Lewis, My Friends, Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

@@@My Own Take On Funerals

lewisotr

I don’t want this to sound morbid, but I have attended so many funerals that I’ve almost developed a classifying system for them. There are the personal ones, that you have to attend. Those are family and very close friends. They are mostly sad affairs. Seldom are we ready to lose those people. While they are sad, there can be moments of joy mixed in. There are the ones that are children and there is never a way to put a happy face on that. Those are always sad, heart wrenching affairs. They haven’t got to experience nearly enough of … Continue reading @@@My Own Take On Funerals

Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Salt Cedar Switch

lewisotr

I scarcely ever see a salt cedar tree anymore. As a small child there was one growing off the edge of the sleeping porch at my grandparents house. In fact that’s about the only one I ever remember. I saw one a while back down along the river by the lower end of The Santa Elena Canyon at Big Bend. It made me remember why I was so well behaved as a youngun. Just the threat of “Ronnie Gene do I need to go cut a switch off that salt cedar” would get me in line. I’m doubtful that there … Continue reading The Salt Cedar Switch

Cowboys & Rodeo, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Sound of Hoof-Beats

lewisotr

I was the kind of kid that wanted to ride a donkey while everyone else rode horses. Tar Baby was an average donkey to most but he was my pride and joy. We rode in rodeo parades with me dressed as a clown. Kenny, my older bother was quite the horseman. He lived to break and train horses. I was made to help with the horse breaking, but it was something that I could have done without. By the time I was 7 or 8 years old our spending money came from working with Shetland Ponies. We lived on the … Continue reading The Sound of Hoof-Beats

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days11 Comments

Brown Parker’s Well

lewisotr

Brown Parker and wife Eula moved back to Texas after spending 3 decades or so out in California, to a couple of acres down on our old home place on the hill overlooking the Lake. He went up to Marble Falls and bought a building that needed to be moved. He set it up on stilts the way it had been in town, so it would improve his view. Many of you may remember this building. In the earlier 60s it was a snack bar that Mr. Seals and Mr. Hill had built at the mini-golf place. To have water … Continue reading Brown Parker’s Well

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

Learning To Water Ski

lewisotr

Kenny and I grew up on the lake and were out on it a lot. We spent a lot of time running up and down Lake Travis in a boat gathering up fish. We weren’t setting out trot lines or dropping hooks in the water either, but that’s a whole other matter we’ll have to get to at another time. I had a little boat that I had bought and had been waiting for Kenny to get in on leave from the Army before I launched it. We put the boat in the water one afternoon at Smithwick. The boat … Continue reading Learning To Water Ski

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick1 Comment

Grover Simpson – Game Warden

lewisotr

I ran across this story one time. While I never had any direct dealings with the renowned Game Warden, Grover Simpson, my dad, Cecil Lewis eluded him for many years. There were many close calls. Even stories of Cec hiding out all night long while Grover set waiting for him to show up back at home. Or having to abandon a vehicle and make a several mile walk home to avoid being caught while road hunting. THE LAWMAN WHO BUSTED LBJ By Mike Cox Game warden was a family friend with a quick smile, a foul mouth and a lifetime … Continue reading Grover Simpson – Game Warden

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Cecil and TSO (Texas State Optical)

lewisotr

I thought I had told this story of a very amusing day in my life, but I sure can’t find it anywhere. Since it’s a true story I should be able to tell it again and it come out the same way. That’s the way true stories work. Back in about 1975 I had a project over in the west central part of Austin. It was a Friday afternoon and my mother and dad rolled up. She was driving. It must have been a pre-planned trip for them to come to Austin, since they knew where to find me. They … Continue reading Cecil and TSO (Texas State Optical)

Crazy Times, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Car Business

lewisotr

I often talk about all the different cars I drove when I was a kid. I may have shown up to school in a different vehicle just about any day. To say we were in the used car business would be an over statement. Cecil Lewis was an entrepreneur of his own kind back in the day. He dabbled in about anything that made a little money or kept his sons busy. Buying and fixing up used cars was but one of his ventures. In my early days working for Charlie Ulbricht, I watched him do body work out of … Continue reading The Car Business

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Telephoning Catfish (As told by Kenny Lewis)

lewisotr

I suppose the statue of limitations has run out on this story, so maybe I can tell this without Joe or me going to jail. As I’ve said earlier Brown Parker was one of my Dad’s best friends as was Joe Alderson. Brown lived in California and he and his wife owned a very successful Commercial Laundry business. Every summer they traveled back to Smithwick for two weeks of vacation. He almost always brought his boat and a case of Jim Beam whiskey. It was always a happy time for the community.Cec and Joe made sure they had ample time … Continue reading Telephoning Catfish (As told by Kenny Lewis)