Category: The Jollyville Years

Crazy Times, The Early Days, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Car Sickness

lewisotr

It doesn’t seem like kids get car sick as much now as they used to. For nine years, from age 4 until I was 13 we maintained a Friday afternoon family ritual. When school would get out on Friday afternoon we would leave Jollyville and head to Smithwick. The road for some of the way was still unpaved, just a gravel road from Lago Vista to Smithwick. That stretch of road became RM 1431 and was paved, starting in 1958. The road from Whitestone to Smithwick was even more crooked back then than it is now. A way more crooked. … Continue reading Car Sickness

The Early Days, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

The Texas Freemason Magazines

lewisotr

I would have been 11 or 12 years old. We still lived down on the creek, out of Jollyville. I was left at home alone, which was unusual for my family to do when I was that age. I guess they didn’t know if there would be a house to come back to if they left me there by myself. I was prone to experiment with stuff, as that was when Chemistry Sets were popular. But on this Saturday there was no testing of stuff going on. I remember it being a very cold day, one where stepping out on … Continue reading The Texas Freemason Magazines

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Jollyville Years5 Comments

My Harvey Penick Story

lewisotr

This really isn’t about Harvey Penick per se, instead involves his daughter. I used his name because it will grab ahold of just about anyone that has ever played the game of golf or has connection to The University of Texas. Mr. Penick owed a ranch down the road from us when Kenny and I were growing up down on the creek out of Jollyville. I think it was his weekend get away, but at the time of this happening his daughter was living there. She had a German Sheppard Dog and a Collie. Us being goat people, we had … Continue reading My Harvey Penick Story

The Early Days, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

May Day Celebrations

lewisotr

I had all but forgotten an annual celebration that we did back when I was a kid in elementary school. The May Day Celebration and the May Pole Dance. It may still be something that is recognized and I’ve just missed out on it. Or did the separation of church and state put a lid on it? We didn’t erect a maypole back at Pond Springs School in Jollyville. We just used the flagpole. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maypole http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day Continue reading May Day Celebrations

The Early Days, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Learning Life’s Lessons

lewisotr

I was probably in the 3rd grade and Kenny was in the 5th. Mr. Henniger was the principal at Pond Springs School at the little three room school we attended in Jollyville. After we ate our lunch each day, Mr. Henniger had a chest type freezer in his office where he kept ice cream bars. If you had a nickel you could buy a ice cream sandwich or a fudgsicle to eat out on the playground. He would go in and we would all line up and watch as he unlocked the freezer with a key on the big key … Continue reading Learning Life’s Lessons

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

Another Daily Happening, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Treehouse Of My Youth

lewisotr

I was running a little ahead of time for a doctor appointment this morning in Austin. I decided to drive by the place we called home from 1958 until 1965. What was back then a small wooden structure built on uneven ground, up a canyon that was 65 acres comprised of mostly shin oak scrub brush and rocky soil with a scattering of live oaks that has now given way to yet another suburban neighborhood. The street leading off of a then unpaved country lane is now Talleyrand Dr. The rocky little trail up to our house is now Rolling … Continue reading The Treehouse Of My Youth

The Jollyville YearsLeave a comment

There Were These Giant Earthworms……..

lewisotr

When I was a small boy growing up in Jollyville and going to school at Pond Springs Elementary, after a heavy night of rain when we would show up to school the next morning all over the playground would be these foot long earthworms crawling everywhere. We would gather them up and chase the girls around the school yard. When the sun was out they would go back underground, not to be seen again until the next heavy rain. I don’t remember ever seeing that phenomenon anywhere else. I researched and found several places around the world that has earthworm … Continue reading There Were These Giant Earthworms……..

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Jollyville YearsLeave a comment

My Harvey Penick Story

lewisotr

This really isn’t about Harvey Penick per se, instead involves his daughter. I used his name because it will grab ahold of just about anyone that has ever played the game of golf or has connection to The University of Texas. Below tells the Harvey Penick Story, and what he has meant to the game of golf: http://www.harveypenickgc.com/about-harvey-penick/ Mr. Penick owed a ranch down the road from us when Kenny and I were growing up down on the Bull Creek out of Jollyville. This would have been in the early 1960’s. I think it was Mr. Penick’s weekend get-away, but … Continue reading My Harvey Penick Story