My Family, Thoughts and Musings1 Comment

A Note From Maxine

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RONNIE, I HOPE THAT YOU ARE MAKING A COPY OF EACH ONE OF THESE ARTICLES YOU ARE WRITING AND THAT COULD BE YOUR BOOK! YOUR LITTLE GRANDCHILDREN WILL NEVER READ THESE STORIES IF YOU DON’T. This was a note my Mother in Law sent me 10 years ago today, which was after just a few days of posting stories on the new Angora Chronicles. Now we turn the clock forward and Maxine lives here in Bertram with Madeline and me. I have done as she recommended and saved each and every story. While her memory isn’t as good as it … Continue reading A Note From Maxine

Amazing Things, My Family, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Cecil & Bonnie Gay Lewis

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76 years ago today, my dad took my mother to be his wife. She was 15 years old. He was 23. Did she have any idea what was ahead for her? She passed away after 42 years of marriage, just short of turning 57 years of age. 4 years later he died at age 69. They spent their lifetime in Smithwick except for a little less than 9 years they lived at Jollyville, Texas – 1956 to 1965. They raised two knuckleheaded boys and then took on raising two adorable girls in what we call their second life of parenting. … Continue reading Cecil & Bonnie Gay Lewis

Amazing Things, Cecil Lewis, Crazy Times, The Jollyville Years, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

My Harvey Penick Story

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This really isn’t about Harvey Penick per se, instead involves his daughter. I used his name because it will grab ahold of just about anyone that has ever played the game of golf or has connection to The University of Texas. Mr. Penick owed a ranch down the road from us when Kenny and I were growing up down on the creek out of Jollyville. It was his weekend get away, but at the time of this happening (1963/1964) his daughter was living there. She had a German Sheppard Dog and a Collie. Us being goat people, we had to … Continue reading My Harvey Penick Story

The Construction Biz, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

The Fiberglass Manhole Salesman

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There was company back in the 70s that started making lightweight wastewater manholes out of fiberglass. The place was down south of Houston. The product was excellent for the site conditions down in that part of the world. A very simple to use product. We laid our pipe straight on thru where a manhole went and kept going. The manholes were built for the exact height required and numbered so all we did was cut little doghouse doors where each pipe went. This was done with an abrasive wheel saw, that we call quickie saws. We could do all this … Continue reading The Fiberglass Manhole Salesman

Past Angora Chronicles Stories, The History of Texas, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Ready To Be Confused? Some Misunderstood Texas State Law

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If you own cow and she get’s out on the highway and a car hits her, who is responsible? The landowner or the driver of the car? Does the landowner have a duty to maintain good fences to insure their livestock don’t get out? Is it a different argument if a gate is left open? No respectable cattleman would have bad fences or leave his gate open, but there is always that wild animal that is going to tear up every fence in sight. And there is the issue of the weekend rancher that isn’t sure what a good fence … Continue reading Ready To Be Confused? Some Misunderstood Texas State Law

Another Daily Happening, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Trading Stamps

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I remember my mother with a wet sponge mopping the backs of those trading stamps and carefully putting them in books. I really only remember my mother collecting S&H Green and Texas Gold. I read on Wikipedia that Texas Gold was primarily a HEB thing. Is that the way you remember it? What kind of things did your mother buy with stamps? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trading_stamp Continue reading Trading Stamps

Amazing Things, The Early Days, The Jollyville Years10 Comments

Swimming Holes on Bull Creek

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This is swimming weather. A hot and sunny afternoon like we have today transports me back in time. Before we moved back to Marble Falls, we spent almost a decade living near Jollyville in two locations. From 1958 until 1965 we lived down Spicewood Springs Road, where I’ve written about breaking Shetlands, raising Angora goats, playing with copperheads and rattlesnakes and had every kind of adventure young boys could have ever wished for. The beautiful Bull Creek meandered up through a nice peaceful valley from Lake Austin just below the Loop 360 – Pennybacker Bridge to the head of it … Continue reading Swimming Holes on Bull Creek

Crazy Times, Smithwick, The Early DaysLeave a comment

Mind You, I’m Not Bragging

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But I’ll have to say that after going through an old box of papers, I have formed a different opinion of what was normal. These are papers I left behind at Smithwick when I moved on to start the “calmer period in my life”, when I got married, that my mother so carefully archived for me. I look back on my early “growing up years” and think that I was a fairly normal boy. I got into a few things, but nothing much that I was ashamed to admit. The following photograph is a vast array of traffic tickets I … Continue reading Mind You, I’m Not Bragging