Category: The Early Days

Construction, Crazy Times, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Watch Out What You Say, You Never Know When It Will Come Back And Bite You In The Rear End

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One time we laid a 48″ waterline up through a neighborhood in Northwest Austin, a real high dollar part of town called Cat Mountain. Our line started at RM 2222 and continued to the top of the mountain on Mt. Bonnell Blvd and various other streets to reach its terminus. Mt. Bonnell – Cat Mountain Project It was really a picture perfect project that kept us busy for most of a year. When we reach the termination point on that job, another contractor, a competitor, was picking up where we left off. This competitor was a friendly one. We had … Continue reading Watch Out What You Say, You Never Know When It Will Come Back And Bite You In The Rear End

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Fire

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Madeline was going through a bunch of old stuff in her cedar chest a while back and she ran across this newspaper clipping of a piece of construction equipment we had one time that caught fire. I wrote a story about this incident long ago. In fact it is even in The Angora Chronicles book. Just don’t want anyone thinking I exaggerated the “degree” to which the fire was. This photo shows it so well. The Story About The Fire: Ruby Waggoner was my dad’s mother. She and my grandfather had divorced when Cecil was very young. He was raised … Continue reading The Fire

Amazing Things, Smithwick, The Early Days3 Comments

My Quest To Find Out More About The Life Of Charlie And Minnie

lewisotr

I have over time written several stories about Charlie and Minnie. That couple has always been a curiosity of mine. They claimed to no have living relatives. But I remember when Minnie died, Charlie had my mother contact some people, perhaps a sister of Minnie’s to let her know of the passing. There were some people, a couple of ladies and a teen daughter, not much older than me, showed up from Oklahoma to attended the funeral. I could remember that Mrs. Redd, Minnie’s Mother, it was told was with them when they first came to our family part of … Continue reading My Quest To Find Out More About The Life Of Charlie And Minnie

Amazing Things, Smithwick, The Early Days1 Comment

Minnie’s Stash (originally written Nov. 30, 2014)

lewisotr

Kenny reminded me of something yesterday that I had forgotten. I wrote about Minnie and Charlie Campbell and her dying. Charlie would always tell us that Minnie kept up with their money and he didn’t know where she kept it or how much they had. I guess they thought, as we all did that she would outlive him. Charlie wasn’t in a shape to do much looking so the first one and the other looked but never found any money. We were all pretty sure they didn’t have two dimes to rub together, so when nothing turned up, no one … Continue reading Minnie’s Stash (originally written Nov. 30, 2014)

The Early Days, The History of TexasLeave a comment

Burnet County and Cotton

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Burnet County is known for several industries with various minerals or tourism being at the heart of most bustling enterprises. However in the early 1900’s cotton was king there like many other areas of Texas. The little town where I now reside, Bertram, had 4 cotton gins at one point. I think I’ve read that it also had about that many banks. The soil around this area is more suited to ranching than farming, but that didn’t stop the industrious folks from making the most of black land areas spotted around the county. Besides the four in Bertram, there were … Continue reading Burnet County and Cotton

Crazy Times, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., The Early DaysLeave a comment

The Auto Theft From Giesecke’s Supermarket (or was it HEB by that time)

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I worked at the Luther – McDuff Chevrolet Dealership my senior year of high school. Others that worked there were: Cecil Rhoades – Manager and car salesman extraordinaire. JC Copeland – A very nice, rotund old fellow – a lifelong car salesman type. John Miller – The most genteel person I’d ever met, and a life long MF resident. Everyone trusted John. Karen Schaefer – a pretty young red head that my brother had dated in high school and had married not long before this incident. We were all sitting in the office one day when several police cars arrived. … Continue reading The Auto Theft From Giesecke’s Supermarket (or was it HEB by that time)

Amazing Things, Crazy Times, On The Job, The Early DaysLeave a comment

More About Jester Blvd.

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We had just finished getting the entire length of the boulevard built from bottom to top, the base was laid and tested, the curbs were all in, all we needed to do was put the asphalt down when the Memorial Day Flood of 1981 hit Austin. During the course of that one night and day, the torrents of water that came down, coupled with the extreme steep grades, we saw 3500 tons of limestone flex-base disappear from that hill. To give you an idea of how much that is, it took 150 large 18 wheeler loads to replace it. In … Continue reading More About Jester Blvd.

The Early Days, The Jollyville Years1 Comment

Hydroponic Gardening

lewisotr

We took our boys to Disney World back in the mid 80’s. I don’t remember that much about the usual stuff that you see there. What I was most attracted to was Epcot Center. Actually I don’t remember that much about Epcot. But I do recall the demonstration on hydroponics. I loved seeing plants growing without soil, either directly in water and plant food or pea gravel medium. Almost immediately when we got back home I had to get myself into building a greenhouse and start hydroponic gardening. Of course there were books on the subject but it was before … Continue reading Hydroponic Gardening

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Throwing Darts

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I was 8 or 9 and Jimmy was three years older. Hannah had made the purchase of some new furniture, perhaps a Lazy Boy. The furniture store delivered it in a pickup with tall solid wooden sideboards, that displayed the store name on it. It made have been WF & JF Barnes Lumber and Furniture, but I can’t be for certain about that. But what I can be for sure about, when the men headed in the house to get the new piece setup, Jimmy and I started throwing darts at the side of that pickup, having a good ol’ … Continue reading Throwing Darts

Marble Falls and the Area Around it., The Early DaysLeave a comment

Anyone Feeling Like Stepping Out Of Your Comfort Zone Tonight?

lewisotr

I would love to hear who all knows about the old farmhouse on US 281 just south of Hof Brau, (most likely it was the Mustang Tavern at the this time) that was a “House of Ill Repute”. I think the time frame was in the early 1960’s. The house still stands today. It is the next property south of the old Hof Brau, on the same side of the highway. Continue reading Anyone Feeling Like Stepping Out Of Your Comfort Zone Tonight?