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Octavius

lewisotr

Just off the northeast corner of the house, our house here in Bertram is a huge wind chime. It has a pleasant melodious quality about it when there is a light breeze blowing. As the wind picks up, it turns to a haunting sound. So much so, that I have a bungee cord that I wrap around it, as to make it immobile when the wind blowing too strongly. You see it’s just outside my bedroom window. A while back we had a house guest, a special young lady that is really into Medieval Times. She has a vast knowledge … Continue reading Octavius

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The Thoughtfulness Of My Brother

lewisotr

One day my brother, Kenny, walked into my wood shop carrying a wooden saddle rack, that he had bought somewhere. He ask if I could carve a name and maybe put something fancy on it. The rack was fairly simple, made from pine, just plain looking. He told me the story of seeing a saddle hanging in the barn of an old cowboy friend of his. He ask about the saddle and got a complete history of it. The old cowboy had owned that saddle most of his adult life I believe. He told him who made the saddle and … Continue reading The Thoughtfulness Of My Brother

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Impersonating Kenny

lewisotr

For years Kenny and I sounded amazingly alike on the phone. We both have what I guess is a distinct Smithwick accent. I’m don’t know if Kenny ever took advantage of that. My wife admits to getting us confused a few times, but never has told me if any of those conversations ever went really hay-wire. On the other hand, I can’t even tell you how much confusion I caused or the fun I had becoming Kenny on the phone. Our Grannie Ruby was easy. All I’d have to say is “Grannie has Karen been by today?” With that, I’d … Continue reading Impersonating Kenny

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Funerals

lewisotr

I don’t want this to sound morbid, but I have attended so many funerals that I’ve almost developed a classifying system for them. There are the personal ones, that you have to attend. Those are family and very close friends. They are mostly sad affairs. Seldom are we ready to lose those people. While they are sad, there can be moments of joy mixed in. There are the ones that are children and there is never a way to put a happy face on that. Those are always sad, heart wrenching affairs. They haven’t got to experience nearly enough of … Continue reading Funerals

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The Proudest Grandad Ever – a newspaper article from December 2017.

lewisotr

Words cannot tell how much I love my grandkids. Every single one of them are so different but each is just as special as the other. I cannot wait for us to gather later this month to take our first picture together with all 10 of them. (We finally got the portrait made with all the grandkids and us – even got it hung – Nov 2018) This link is to a article in the Austin American Newspaper http://www.mystatesman.com/sports/high-school/faces-off-the-field-emma-lewis-burnet-junior-shooting-guard/d8FvDkDabKYLVXpjyYJTtI/ What’s your favorite memory of playing basketball for Burnet? Being invited by (Bulldogs) coach (Doug) Messer to join the varsity basketball … Continue reading The Proudest Grandad Ever – a newspaper article from December 2017.

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Circling 4-Wheelers

lewisotr

Back in the winter of 1984, Kenny had a deer lease on several thousand acres of south Texas land between Laredo and Freer. He was so gracious to ask me down a few times. (or anytime I wanted to come). Given when that was, Kenny was almost 35 years old and I’m two and a half years younger. On one trip, when several people were also there for a weekend, but all still out hunting one morning, he and I both arrived back at camp, a nice house actually, on our Suzuki 4-wheelers. They were a matched set of machines. … Continue reading Circling 4-Wheelers

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Is It Bell’s Palsy or a Stoke ?

lewisotr

While we were living in Corpus Christi, I was home alone. I hadn’t slept well, but what’s new. I got up and went down stairs and made myself a cup of coffee. I went over and took a seat in my easy chair where I would be waiting for the sun to rise over Corpus Christi Bay. I was dressed in my usual attire for the coast, shorts and a tee shirt. As I started to sip my coffee I started to notice that my mouth wasn’t working exactly right. I’ve been drinking coffee for almost 50 years and this … Continue reading Is It Bell’s Palsy or a Stoke ?

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Glenn The Fuel Truck Driver 2 (how and why he was hired)

Michael Lewis

After reading the story “Glenn The Fuel Truck Driver” written by my father earlier I felt the need to elaborate a little. At the time I was watching over the equipment and trucking fleet for Lewis Contractors. We were struggling to find a good Oiler to drive our fuel truck. Working as an Oiler is interesting to say the least. Everything you touch is laced in grease, mud, diesel and red hot to the touch.  It’s back breaking work crawling up and down the equipment and into tight spaces and the job consist of doing this dozens of times each day. I’ve … Continue reading Glenn The Fuel Truck Driver 2 (how and why he was hired)

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Me and WordPress

lewisotr

I’ve been writing stories and sharing my random thoughts for several years on Facebook. It was suggested to me yesterday by my son Mike that I could simplify my life greatly by creating a WordPress account instead of directly entering everything directly into Facebook. So here I go. I now have my account setup and the typing on my iPhone seems easy and it’s certainly easier to read. So in coming days, hopefully this old dog will learn a few new tricks and make my life easier at the same time. So now I’ll publish this trial run and see … Continue reading Me and WordPress