Category: Thoughts and Musings

Amazing Things, Texas History, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings, TravelsLeave a comment

The Best Resource There Is For Texas History

lewisotr

I know most of you love history, Texas History for sure. This is a list of some of the very best FB Groups on Texas History. One thing all these groups have in common are their Creators/Administrators. My FB friends, Bob Dunn and Will Beauchamp have done a wonderful job of bringing us just about anything you can think of when it comes to Texas History. Browse through the list below and find something you are interested in and take a look. Many of you belong to these fine groups but you may not realize how many others there are. … Continue reading The Best Resource There Is For Texas History

Crazy Times, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Story That Really Shouldn’t Be Told

lewisotr

There was a guy once that left Houston, where he currently was working, to go with his wife and a son to Augusta, Ga. to visit another son that was there training with the US Army. This absolute idiot of a guy decided to go on the Atkins Diet while traveling. Not the brightest move I’d say. If a person eats only meat, cheese and eggs for several days, his regularity is not exactly in check if you know what I mean. The Atkins Diet Plan instructs you to take Psyllium Fiber to help with the above condition. The time … Continue reading The Story That Really Shouldn’t Be Told

Aging, Amazing Things, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, My Family, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

My Ol’ Daddy Didn’t Live A Good Clean Life

lewisotr

No apologies for that, as I can almost guarantee you what he would have said if someone offered their opinion on the matter. He smoked his whole life from about age 9. He drank heavily except for about a decade and half, which was from when I was born until I became a teenager. But before that time he was hell on wheels and after that time he became legendary around Smithwick and beyond. Cecil Lewis lived his life throwing caution to the wind. He didn’t spend a lot of his time contemplating his next move. He just got a … Continue reading My Ol’ Daddy Didn’t Live A Good Clean Life

Amazing Things, Cecil Lewis, My Family, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Cecil Lewis Wasn’t Always A Patient Man

lewisotr

It wouldn’t be hard to take away from my previous stories that Cec wasn’t a perfect man in every way. He was hard on us boys. Not just his sons, but all those that worked for him or even just hung out with us. He wanted stuff done and done then. He didn’t take to a lot of foot dragging. For any of his faults he could fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. But as strange at it may seem, if anything broke or got wrecked, he always kept his cool. It was as if at … Continue reading Cecil Lewis Wasn’t Always A Patient Man

Texas History, Thoughts and Musings5 Comments

San Antonio’s Union Stockyards

lewisotr

I personally have great memories of this place. I was blown away to learn that actual auction rings with the auction calls we are now familiar with have only been around for around 60 years. Prior to that a cattle stockyard was a place that ranchers met up and sold their livestock to each other with the facility being there to weight the stock and help with the money transfer. I didn’t know the real history behind this place but I was able to find this article, which is the best writing I’ve found on the history of the SA … Continue reading San Antonio’s Union Stockyards

Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

State Juvenile Training School Cemetery Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas

lewisotr

This is a small cemetery at Gatesville at what was the Boy’s Reformatory. There are 16 graves. Most died in a fairly short period of time 3-4 years. One died in 1908 and all the others died between 1916 – 1920. Pneumonia appears to be the major cause of death with Typhoid Fever and Meningitis also showing up on death certificates. I saw a drowning in the river as the cause of another. I suppose while trying to escape. Times were hard and if they were a long distance away from their homes, they just didn’t have a means or … Continue reading State Juvenile Training School Cemetery Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas

Crazy Times, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

It Can Get Hot In May

lewisotr

Looks like we have a fairly nice week coming up. Well after today it shouldn’t be just oppressively hot. Of course today’s 96° won’t be bad after those 100°+ stuff the past few of days. I remember back in the early 80s, I bid a wastewater project in Laredo, right down along the Rio Grande River. My old bookkeeper Woody went down with me to look at it. He dumped me out up on the upper end and drove about five miles down the river to a predetermined location where I’d be coming up out of the bottoms. I headed … Continue reading It Can Get Hot In May

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, My Friends, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

A Lincoln Town Car Sedan With Dual Tires On All Four Wheels

lewisotr

My friend and colleague Gerry I got to the restaurant at the same time one morning. This took place south of Dallas at the town of Waxahachie. As we were walking in I saw a strange sight. A new Lincoln Continental was parked front and center. It looked like any other car of that make, except it was equipped with dual tires all the way around. Each tire was only approximately half the width of a normal car tire. It was the strangest thing I’d seen in a while. We stood there discussing it for a bit, trying to figure … Continue reading A Lincoln Town Car Sedan With Dual Tires On All Four Wheels

Crazy Times, Funny Happenings, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Rolling Back The Odometer

lewisotr

I told in an earlier story about working during my senior year of high school at an Auto Dealership. I was in the Distributive Education Program, allowing me to spend the afternoon actually working on a job where I made money, instead of sitting in a classroom wasting my time. At least that’s the way it felt. For my job I moved cars around from place to place, cleaned up cars, took out the trash and vacuumed the floors in the offices. I did pretty much anything that was needed to be done. I even drove cars around town to … Continue reading Rolling Back The Odometer