The “55” Chevrolet 3/4 Ton Pickup With Sideboards

Cecil picked up this slightly used Texas Highway Department Pickup at a sale somewhere. That was along about 1961, so the old truck had a lot of good left it it. It was Highway Department Yellow, with the state emblem sanded off of each front door, making it not very attractive. To class it up a bit he had a fellow paint it for him. Cec never did have much of an eye for colors so he went and picked out a color I’d never seen a vehicle painted before or since. I guess it would be something between a … Continue reading The “55” Chevrolet 3/4 Ton Pickup With Sideboards

Our Dancing Pumps

My brother and I, growing up in a big rock pile in the late 50s and 60s, out on Spicewood Springs Rd, were very hard on shoes and cowboy boots. We could go through a pair of black hightop Keds in a few weeks. We always got black ones, because the white ones sure wouldn’t stand the test of time. I’d be off in a mud hole the first day. We had cowboy boots, mostly of the pointy toe variety. Round toe boots didn’t make a real entry until later in the 60s, it seems. But the leather soles on … Continue reading Our Dancing Pumps

Our Life Amongst The Oak Trees

I guess you could say I have a love-hate relationship with Live Oaks. There must be a hundred trees in this yard. Okay maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But there must be fifty. Okay, I’m willing to lower that to thirty, just for the sake of not having to count them at this point in time. You know that there are always leaves aplenty to get rid of once March rolls around. You know once get the leaves are up and gone and then the blooms start falling. The blooms are far worse than leaves. They are all over everything … Continue reading Our Life Amongst The Oak Trees

Never A Broken Bone

This wasn’t a telephone solicitor but it was someone that kept calling me. Hey folks, can we make this about me for just one minute. I’ve told about everything that has ever happened in my life. Almost. Every near miss. Miraculously I’ve never had a broken bone. In my story about going for the Army draft physical I told about crushing my foot. There we no bone fractures. The bones had what Dr. Allen called radial cracks, I think. There were bones that had longitudinal cracks but nothing fractured, if that makes sense. He bandaged my foot but no cast. … Continue reading Never A Broken Bone

It’s All About The Phrasing

I signed a copy of my wonderful book and handed to the lady. I didn’t really know her, but after talking to her I figured she may enjoy some of the stories. And I said “It’s a good bathroom book. Perhaps enjoy a story or two while you do your business. Maybe not so much if you’re constipated. You may absorb too much information for your own good”. Thankfully I don’t remember who this nice lady was. With any luck maybe we’ll never cross paths again. A fellow needs to watch how they phase things. Sometimes I talk too much. Continue reading It’s All About The Phrasing

I was driving down the road, headed to a doctors appointment, minding my own business.

The phone rang. Being one to comply with laws and to look out for the safety of others, I carefully took note of my surroundings. I wasn’t in a school zone and traffic was fairly light, being after the big rush of everyone to getting to work and the kids to school, it seemed the coast was clear for me to take this call from a number I didn’t recognize. “Hello this is Douglas West with Medicare. Is this Ronald Lewis” (said in a oriental accent that always sounds more like Ruan’ald Wuwis). “No it’s not. I’m his son, Montel … Continue reading I was driving down the road, headed to a doctors appointment, minding my own business.

The Unsuspecting Fellow Called:

“Mr. Lewis, this is Sam Jones calling from Medicare”. (said with a middle eastern accent) He told me he is authorized to send me a heart monitor, free of charge from Medicare. “Hold on young man, I’m here at the Austin Heart Hospital, where they are getting ready to put me in a new heart, you know a heart transplant. You know what that is?” (all said in the most poorly sickly sounding voice I could muster) He said he did know. So I told him to hold while I got the nurse to come talk to him. He acted … Continue reading The Unsuspecting Fellow Called:

I Feel Like My Life Is One Big Bundle Of Surprises

Yes I’m always surprised at what pops up around every corner, or so it seems. Some of those unexpected “surprises” are not good but most of the time they are something to enjoy. Having this forum I get to share much of this, the good and the bad with many of my friends. I would love to tell you something that happened a couple of days ago. It involves one person that many in Marble Falls knows and that I’ve call a friend for well over a half century, probably around 55 years. This fellow is a few years older … Continue reading I Feel Like My Life Is One Big Bundle Of Surprises

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