Category: Thoughts and Musings

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Telephoning Catfish (As told by Kenny Lewis)

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I suppose the statue of limitations has run out on this story, so maybe I can tell this without Joe or me going to jail. As I’ve said earlier Brown Parker was one of my Dad’s best friends as was Joe Alderson. Brown lived in California and he and his wife owned a very successful Commercial Laundry business. Every summer they traveled back to Smithwick for two weeks of vacation. He almost always brought his boat and a case of Jim Beam whiskey. It was always a happy time for the community.Cec and Joe made sure they had ample time … Continue reading Telephoning Catfish (As told by Kenny Lewis)

Amazing Things, My Family, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

My Dad Never Showed Me How To Fish With A Rod And Reel

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My dad was too figgitity to sit and fish. He picked things to do that would keep him on the move. Cec never watched sports either, that would require sitting in one spot for a few minutes. He never was much on sitting in a movie theater, either. If he did go to a movie he’d be up and down 20 times, coming and going. We took Bonnie Gay and Cecil with us to a music concert, I think it was a time Tammy Wynette and George Jones came to the Palmer Auditorium. I think Charley Pride was there too. … Continue reading My Dad Never Showed Me How To Fish With A Rod And Reel

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, Smithwick, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

Cec and the Riviera

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Kenny (my brother), Cec (my dad) & I headed off one Saturday morning to buy Kenny a new car to go off to college in. Cec was sure that Kenny should have something economical, so a nice 63 Oldsmobile Cutlass 4 door was acquired for him. It was a pretty common looking little car. It looked more like our grandmother should have been driving it. Kenny was less than pleased, but knew that life was going to be tough for him, with his going to school and plans to get married soon. So he went along with it. On the … Continue reading Cec and the Riviera

Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Cec And The Big Billy Goat

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When we were building the Guadalupe River State Park my dad, Cecil took his small travel trailer down at the very end of the park at the rivers hairpin bend, to stay away from everyone else. The park land extends across the river at that narrow point and has some primitive camping and hiking over there. Between the time we bid that project and it actually getting under way, there was the huge flood that snapped off gigantic cypress trees and altered the landscape forever. Cec would sit and watch a herd of Spanish Goats that climbed the rock bluffs … Continue reading Cec And The Big Billy Goat

Amazing Things, My Sons, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

On Being A Father

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Being a dad has been one of the greatest things I’ve ever done. When I watch all my boys travel through their own lives, and doing it right, I feel like my part is mostly done. Never having a real rough patch with any one of the five boys, has been a true blessing. Of course there have been a little spat here and there. If there hadn’t been, it would be because they were just going along with whatever I said. Then they wouldn’t be their own man. The main thing is we’ve never been estranged for more than … Continue reading On Being A Father

Crazy Times, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Betting on Football

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I was convinced back when I was much younger that no one was unlucky enough to lose 13 out of 15 football games but I proved that theory wrong. The year was 1985. I felt like I didn’t even have to know who was playing and that I could pick almost half of the games correctly. Statistically speaking, just looking at the point spreads. Because I watched a lot of football back then and we all talked football I was sure I knew as much as anyone on the subject. The mid 1980s were prosperous times. Thanksgiving weekend rolled around … Continue reading Betting on Football

Crazy Times, My Sons, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

A Nice Sunday Afternoon Motorcycle Ride

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A few years ago we were doing a project in Brownsville, Texas, a seven hour trip to the south. Being a nice Sunday I decided to ride my Goldwing down. Madeline was coming down later so she was pulling the trailer so I could haul it back home later that week. Ron Jr. was working on that job so he was already down there. He had a motorcycle so I suggested he ride up to Corpus so we could meet for lunch then ride back together. After having lunch we headed out for the 3 hour trip to the valley. … Continue reading A Nice Sunday Afternoon Motorcycle Ride

Crazy Times, On The Job, The Construction Biz, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings3 Comments

I Felt Kind Of Guilty For Contributing To This Fellow Getting Fired

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Alvin was a TxDot employee, the supervisor over all of the survey crews. I first got to know him in the early 70s when we were contracted to work on the I-35 expansion through downtown Austin. TxDot did all the layout in those days and had a bunch of survey crews. Now-a-days they mostly hire it all out I think. In fact they may not even have a survey division. Sometime later, around 1980, Alvin was seeing retirement coming so he started his own surveying company and would go out on weekends and do work. I hired him to do … Continue reading I Felt Kind Of Guilty For Contributing To This Fellow Getting Fired

Amazing Things, The Early Days, Thoughts and Musings2 Comments

It Took Me Weeks To Figure Out Why She Was Upset.

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No long after we married in 1971, I came home with Madeline a brand new 1972 Dodge Demon automobile. It was an absolute beauty. White with a White Pearlescent Vinyl Top and Snowy White Interior. Very sporty but not in a hot rod sort of way. More in a very hot, young chick sort of way. That baby had all the beauty and innocents that my new wife had. My Dad had gone with me to Austin to buy it. I needed him to drive my pickup back. What better thing could a new husband do than go buy the … Continue reading It Took Me Weeks To Figure Out Why She Was Upset.

Amazing Things, Funny Happenings, Smithwick, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Eat More Goat

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That is if you can afford it. The popularity of eating goats has sure driven up the price. Something about eating goat meat that really appeals to me. It’s not the taste or the texture. It has more to do with nostalgia. At Smithwick Homecoming time, at those long sheet iron pits out under the liveoak trees at the site of the old Smithwick School House (now the Smithwick Community Center) waiting for one of the men to cut off a sample is where my love of goat meat started. Fresh and hot, right off the pit. The sop that … Continue reading Eat More Goat