Sometimes It Pays To Procrastinate

This is one of those stories that happen and you ask yourself, what just happened? Last night a lady asked me if I had one of the Centennial Edition of Marble Falls History, published by The Highlander, that I may be willing to part with. It is a great record of the Marble Falls so many of us hold so dear to our hearts. I told this lady, whom I supposed would be using it to do research for a book she is writing, that I would look and see, but I was pretty sure I had a copy I’d … Continue reading Sometimes It Pays To Procrastinate

Let Me Tell You About Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse

(My Mother’s Parents) This is a compilation of stories I wrote some time ago about my mother’s parents and what life was like back in the 20s and 30s in Smithwick, Texas. Much, if not all of their married life Nancy and Delbert was spent in Smithwick. Nancy was a member of the Martin Family from Burnet. I believe Delbert was raised primarily in Smithwick. My Maternal Grandparents marriage license. Oscar Delbert Boultinghouse & Nancy Ella Martin married on Jan. 15, 1915. After they married in 1915, they lived on what has always been known to me as the Old … Continue reading Let Me Tell You About Delbert and Nancy Boultinghouse

I Was A Kid With Few Talents

In fact I think I could only do approximately two unusual things. One of those I tried out while sitting in the barber chair this morning. Now mind you it wasn’t the first time I’d tried a barber out on this but in memory it’s the first time I ever got a real reaction. As this young gal started to clip the ear hair, I started my ear wiggling routine. Of course I could see her look in the mirror, so as she’d get close with the clipper, I’d let my big ole ears start moving back and forth. She … Continue reading I Was A Kid With Few Talents

My Brother Is Not A Drug Lord (from 2015)

A good many years ago I rolled up at my brothers house in the middle of the morning on a weekday, unannounced. I knew he was at home, but had no idea what I was walking into. Knowing he was home along, I started to just walk on in, but the door was locked. I knocked and he came and unbolted the door and let me in. Okay, Just so you know I called him before I wrote this to see if he minded me writing about it – “I don’t give a damn. I ended up having to put … Continue reading My Brother Is Not A Drug Lord (from 2015)

I Really Didn’t Want To Go To The Army

I was 19 years old and had a low draft number. We got on a bus in Lampasas early in the morning for a trip up to Abilene for our physical, some time in the spring of 1972. I had many reasons that made me think I wasn’t cut out for Military Life. First off I had been hearing back from my brother about how miserable life was in Vietnam. Secondly I had been watching the television news at night and they were saying what a terrible situation we were in over there and how there didn’t seem to be … Continue reading I Really Didn’t Want To Go To The Army

Bump Gates

Probably Nothing Banged Up More Pickups Than The Bump Gate. Being a Hill Country Boy, I never got much practice using a Bump Gate. They are mostly something from West and South Texas. I’ve heard of lots of calamities with city slickers and Yankees trying to use them. Either running into them at full speed to not going through them fast enough. Not to even talk about pulling to long a trailer through one. I think it’s probably something you need to watch a pro operate them a few times before you decide to do it yourself. I guess they … Continue reading Bump Gates

Socks Jackson’s Prize Paint Filly

Socks loved paint horses. He had a colt that he was prouder of than anything you could imagine. I’m not sure why this colt was so important to him, but everyone that came along would be shown the little paint filly. Glenn being the expert horseman wanted to handle the colt a little so they went back and got the mother and baby. The mare had a halter and lead rope on so they lead her out in front of the house into the parking lot. Glenn Lewis was a teenager probably around 13 or 14, so I would have … Continue reading Socks Jackson’s Prize Paint Filly

Sid & Fay

When Madeline and I married we moved into a trailer house (we called it a mobile home – but it was a trailer house, I’m pretty sure). It was in Sherwood Shores but I guess if we lived there today it is called Granite Shoals. Our place was pretty spacious, for a young couple just starting out. Our next door neighbors were Sid and Fay. They were retired and lived there and we had a small pond in the backyard. Sid and Fay lived in a very small older trailer, but it was immaculate. Everything was pretty and neat. After … Continue reading Sid & Fay

Pickup Bumper Advertising (long as the buyer would go along with it)

Dealerships around the state ordered pickup trucks without rear bumpers. D & D Bumper Works in Seguin, Texas made very sturdy steel bumpers with the dealership name and location stamped in and highlighted with paint. That became a rolling advertisement for the dealership. There were perhaps other companies that offered this service, but D & D was the ones that seemed to be most widely used. Continue reading Pickup Bumper Advertising (long as the buyer would go along with it)