Category: Smithwick

Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Color TV Made It To The Lewis Household

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All the way through high school we watched a black and white television. After I got out into the working world, but still hanging out mostly in Smithwick, I decided it was time we had a color TV. I went up to Crawford’s Appliance and TV to purchased a Zenith TV, a nice size one by the measures of 1970 TV. I brought it home, or possibly they deliver it. We never had watched all that much TV before, maybe an hour here or there. Having that color TV changed everything. Bonnie and Cecil were hooked. They watched it every … Continue reading Color TV Made It To The Lewis Household

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, 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

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick1 Comment

Cec and the CB Radio Craze

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Back in the early 1970s CB Radios were the biggest thing going. No one got into CB’s more than Cecil Lewis. It didn’t matter what it took in the way of equipment to have the latest and greatest he would buy it. He was on a buying frenzy like I had never seen Cec go on before. He was a mostly a very frugal person. Not stingy at all. He would give a stranger anything he had and a friend, well the sky was the limit. But the CB Age saw him putting up a tall tower at his house. … Continue reading Cec and the CB Radio Craze

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, My Friends, Smithwick, The Early Days5 Comments

J.P. and the Tires

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The junk yard as we called it, was a five acre field up the hill that we didn’t cultivate and out of sight of our house. It was on our land, but was operated by Hugh Hampton. He would bring wrecked cars in and strip them down for usable car parts then scrap the remaining pieces. One day a 63 (may have been a 64) Chevy Impala was brought in that had been in a wreck and was pretty much totaled. It had belong to a schoolmate, Jerry Ford. It had a really nice set of wide ovals on the … Continue reading J.P. and the Tires

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early Days4 Comments

Ingrown Toenails

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As a teenager I was plagued with ingrown toenails. They came and went. One day as I complained about the pain, probably using it as an excuse to get out of work, my dad had heard enough. “Come here boy, I am gonna fix those toes of your” As I set in the kitchen floor, he brought out a syringe that we had recently used while castrating hogs. It had the largest and coarsest needle you can even imagine. He had the same medicine we had used for deadening the hogs. He loaded that syringe full of it and as … Continue reading Ingrown Toenails

Crazy Times, On The Job, Smithwick, The Early Days5 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, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

What Didn’t Kill Us, Made Us Stronger

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Was online texting back and forth this morning with my little sister/cousin Jan Beaver. We grew up to be parents that jerked our kids up and hauled them to the doctor every time they had a snotty nose. I guess we were making up for the lack of us going to the doctor when we were kids. Jan told of climbing up on the cabinet next to the stove top where Bonnie Gay was making Mustang Grape Jelly and turned the pan over, spilling it all over her arms. She grabbed her up and ran cold water on it and … Continue reading What Didn’t Kill Us, Made Us Stronger

Amazing Things, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Early Boyhood Memories

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The Old Oak Tree at my grandmothers house along the highway in Smithwick (we lived in that house until I turned 4) that we played under and climbed in when we were kids. There were always at least a half dozen well made toy trucks and equipment, all constructed from metal that made their home under this marvelous tree. The Old Crib and Pens down behind the house. It is very weathered, considering it hasn’t been used or had any upkeep in more than 50 years. It was several decades old when I was a kid, for it to still … Continue reading Early Boyhood Memories

Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

Old Man Cardwell

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When we were young, preteen years for me, we went all over Smithwick horseback. Mostly it was Kenny, Jimmy Palmer, Glenn Lewis and me, but sometimes others in the community joined in. Everett and Maude Jackson had the little store beside the road just below the cemetery. The store had really limited fare. Mostly snacks and soda pops. I don’t remember them having very many perishables. Maybe a little stuff in a small refrigerator. For sure there were soda crackers and Vienna Sausages. Across the highway from the store and down the creek a little ways was a little shack … Continue reading Old Man Cardwell