Loose Strings From The Past

Category: Other Things

  • STAY SAFE

    There is a rip-snorting western on TV. It portrays lawlessness and gun fighting in the streets. The old West was not a safe place to live. One of my great, great grandfathers kept a diary.   He frequently referred to what he called “Indian Excitement.” The diary lists numbers of people killed by the Indians and…

  • THE OLD LIND FAMILY CAR

    This article was written by my son, Charles Standifer, in 1979, when he was a junior student at Georgetown High School.  Under the guidance of his history teacher, Ms. Marietta Mugford, he entered it in a contest sponsored by the Williamson County Historical Commission. He placed second.  He still has the car. The old Lind…

  • A Doggie Dad

    This is from a blog post for my children’s book, Butch The One Of A Kind Dog. Butch’s dog friends in the neighborhood were like people.  They came in different sizes, shapes, colors, and degrees of attractiveness.  Butch probably had the distinction of being the most unattractive of the group.  Some even referred to the…

  • SENIOR TRIPS

      the Cisco pool   Senior trips for Breckenridge High School were one -day trips near the end of the school year.  In the thirties and forties, the seniors went to Cisco.  The 25 -mile trip took them to an outstanding recreation area, a swimming pool behind the base of the dam which created Lake…

  • LIVESTOCK AUCTIONS

    Livestock auctions were a part of life in the area where I grew up.  They were just called “sale barns” by the locals.  The bidders sat on elevated seats and looked down at an area called “the ring” to view the animal or animals they were bidding on. Eastland Livestock Exchange Ring   Dairy cows were…

  • STORMS

    It is April.  That means tornado season in Texas. I knew about tornadoes from an early age.  Many homes had storm cellars.  Some of the old houses in the country also had lightning rods.  We had neither.  It worried my young mind that my parents seemed unconcerned about the need for either. The grandmother of…

  • THE BIRD WHISPERER

      John told me not to write this because no one would believe it.  I told him I was going to write it anyway.  I have never known John to lie.  His wife and neighbors verify the story and they have pictures to prove it.  I believe it.  I have read more unusual animal stories…

  • A GOOD MAN

    Several weeks ago I reconnected with a man I had not seen in many years.  He told me that he had worked at the dairy sometime after I was out of the nest and gone from Breckenridge. He remembered being my Dad’s helper on one of the milk routes.  Dad had every customer’s order committed…

  • School Policies

    I was not concerned with school policies in the 1940’s, but I was vaguely aware that there was a discussion about a relative. She married after her junior year of high school and was not allowed to register for her senior year.  The policy was “You marry, you quit school.”  After discussions (more likely arguments)…

  • LOSS

    Ken wiped his tears, sighed, and quoted the title of an old song, “What a Difference a Day Makes.” On Saturday evening he and his youngest sister, Ruby, had a lengthy discussion on where we might travel in the next few weeks.  We were waiting for fall weather. Today she is gone.  Sunday morning Ruby…