On The Job, The Early Days2 Comments

LJ Henderson – The Best Blaster In The Country

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LJ lived in Burnet. He and my Dad were friends for most of their lives. They entered the service at the same time. There is a story of them hitchhiking back home to Burnet Co. at some point. Either during the service or when they got out. It was a true Cecil Lewis adventure, as I remember it. I always wanted to visit LJ and get him to recall it for me. I missed that opportunity. LJ passed away before I got around to asking him about it. Many of my stories are rooted in the things that I learned … Continue reading LJ Henderson – The Best Blaster In The Country

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The Shetland Jockey’s At Paleface Park

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It’s always fun listening to kids, starting back when I was one, dreaming about where their life would take them. “What I want to be when I grow up”, kind of stuff. Then I heard it from the next generation, my kids and their friends. Now I get to hear the dreams of my own grandchildren. I’m going to be a pro-ball player. I’m going to be an astronaut. Life is made of dreams. I was no different. Well maybe a little different. As I got on up in my teen years I just thought more about doing whatever it … Continue reading The Shetland Jockey’s At Paleface Park

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C’est la vie

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We have talked about small town police chiefs lately. It caused me to think back to an incident that happened in our fair little town a few years ago. Bertram had a new police chief, I guess he was. It was a department of one, I think. So I’m not sure how chiefly he was. One day we headed out of town, to San Antonio to a wedding. Madeline was driving, with me in the front passenger seat and daughter in law Katherine in the back seat. This was a time when Bertram had the notable distinction of being one … Continue reading C’est la vie

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Vernon Blizzard

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After a lifetime of thinking I knew how to spell his name I recently found out it is Blisard. With it being the time of year when the temperatures are cooling down, let me tell you about a Blizzard we once experienced. His name was Vernon (Blizzard) Blisard. He worked with my grandmother Ruby at the State School. That was in the early 1960s, over in west Austin. I don’t know what Vernon did at work but away from work he traded in Shetland ponies. He didn’t just deal in them, he was a Major Shetland Pony Trafficker. If you, … Continue reading Vernon Blizzard

Crazy Times, Kenny Lewis, The Early DaysLeave a comment

On A Quest To Buy A Truck

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On the day after Thanksgiving in 1977 Kenny and I went to Cross Plains, Texas to look at a potential truck purchase to haul our equipment with. We started out from Smithwick. We were both there with our families where we were spending the holidays with our mom and dad. Being a 3 hour trip up to the northwest we left early in the morning and arrived in Cross Plains by 8:00 AM. We had seen an ad for this used truck dealer in a magazine. When we got there, they had a sea of trucks on the lot. We … Continue reading On A Quest To Buy A Truck

Crazy Times, Marble Falls and the Area Around it., My Friends, The Early Days1 Comment

The 13 Vehicle Accident In Marble Falls

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Usually you think of multi-car wrecks happening in Austin or Houston or Dallas. Like a pile up on the freeway. A little known or remembered fact is there was a wreck that happened right in Marble Falls, Texas that involved 13 vehicles back in the spring of 1970. I was involved. It was my senior year and I only went to school in the mornings and worked at a local car dealership in the afternoon. This one afternoon things weren’t to busy at the car lot so I ran home and grabbed a small trailer mounted air compressor and headed … Continue reading The 13 Vehicle Accident In Marble Falls

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The Double Cross

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There are things that happen in our lives that leave us wondering about human nature. This story left me feeling less trustful. I had become very good friends with an old gentleman that was my neighbor. Upon his retiring after a long and successful career as an excavation contractor in Austin, I bought his office and yard and several pieces of his equipment. I didn’t buy his business per se, and I’ve alway questioned why I didn’t. He had almost cornered the market on doing the big excavation projects around Austin. Oh well, I guess things work out. One of … Continue reading The Double Cross

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A Young Man And His Dog

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Thinking about and talking about goats today brought to mind perhaps the finest and best trained Border Collie that ever lived. Rennie was her name. She belonged to my brother Kenny. He got her at about 6 months old when he was a freshman in high school. He raised her and trained her. She was good working goats or cattle, as long as Kenny was there to give her commands. He got her to the point that he could walk out of the door at the house and tell her to go get the goats. The goats were always housed … Continue reading A Young Man And His Dog

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Lacy Dog, Blue Lacy, Lacy Hog Dog or just a Lacy

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By whatever name you call it, it’s all the same thing it appears. But one thing there is not in dispute about; they have a real history right here in Burnet County and the surrounding area. The following link credits HC Wilkes with starting to call them Blue Lacy’s in the 1990’s. I sure remember that being the one thing they were called well before 1990, most likely by HC Wilkes and many other others. I think the most common name I heard was Lacy Hog Dog. The article below tells us a lot about the breed. Check out the … Continue reading Lacy Dog, Blue Lacy, Lacy Hog Dog or just a Lacy

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EXCAVATING FOR A NEW BANK BUILDING

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Back in 1978 my company contracted to excavate for the new Capitol National Bank. It was the largest job of that type that Lewis Contractors had ever taken on. Considering it was excavating 30′ deep a full block square downtown Austin from 7th to 8th St. between Guadalupe and Lavaca and it was solid limestone rock it had its challenges. The only real way to accomplish a project like that was to blast. If I remember correctly, we did it in around 60 days. Considering the equipment we had to work with in those days, it seems remarkable to me … Continue reading EXCAVATING FOR A NEW BANK BUILDING