Category: Smithwick

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

Another Daily Happening, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early Days1 Comment

The Adventures Of Driving Under-Powered Trucks

lewisotr

The 60s were a different time than now when it comes to the horse power of trucks. Today our trucks operate with 500 to 600 horsepower. Back then the common range was 180 to 250 HP. We still hauled equally heavy loads over the same roads as today. Trucks were used much longer and maintained must less than by today’s standards. It was common for when we were hauling a heavy dozer in hillier areas for me to go ahead in a pickup to assist. When we knew there was a grade too steep coming up, Kenny would pull over, … Continue reading The Adventures Of Driving Under-Powered Trucks

My Family, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Let me tell you about Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse, My Mother’s Parents

lewisotr

This is a story I wrote sometime ago about my mother’s parents and what life was like back in the 1915 throughout their lives. Much, if not all of their married life was spent in Smithwick. Nancy was a member of the Martin Family from Burnet. I think Delbert was raised primarily in Smithwick. From this union came 11 children, 3 boys and 8 girls. They lived on what has always been known to me as the Old Boultinghouse Place, which is a couple of miles east of the Smithwick Cemetery. A quarter of a mile east of Balcones Springs … Continue reading Let me tell you about Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse, My Mother’s Parents

Amazing Things, My Family, SmithwickLeave a comment

Andrew Theron Lewis – Graduate of The Sweeney School of Automotive Repair.

lewisotr

May 29, 1920 I was going through some old files this morning and ran across this diploma of my grandfather. I had seen it before but never had really examined it. But to find this and look at the dates help me to understand how being shortly after the end of WW I and with more and more automobiles coming about, there was a real need for mechanics to keep them running. I don’t know how long he worked in the business of fixing cars, but being a farmer, the skills learned here were put to use throughout his life. … Continue reading Andrew Theron Lewis – Graduate of The Sweeney School of Automotive Repair.

Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Color TV Made It To The Lewis Household

lewisotr

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, Smithwick1 Comment

Cec and the CB Radio Craze

lewisotr

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

lewisotr

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

lewisotr

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, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

What Didn’t Kill Us, Made Us Stronger

lewisotr

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