Wooden Tanks, Steel Men,

Several years ago I decide that I read so much about Texas that I could write a book about Texas. So I started out with the idea I would write the epic tale of my progenitors coming to Texas from Virginia on the eve of the War of Northern Aggression, that’s the Civil war for you Yankees. The only trouble was the only resource material I had was a 11 page letter of an older relative’s remembrance of what her mother had told her about what she remembered about the journey through the eyes of an eight years old.
That’s when I learned my first of many lessons about writing. You have to have good resource material, be willing to do a whole lot of research, or know what you’re talking about. That “learning” was the seed of my next attempt at writing a book.

“Wooden Tanks, Steel Men” was the working title, OK the only title of my new book. As near as I can remember I started this project in 2000. This is a subject I could get my teeth into, I grew up watching these men. I’ve even worked on a Wooden Tank crew and actually helped build the last red wood tank in the Permian Basin. (Put that on your resume and see where it gets you.) That’s when I learned my second lesson about writing. It is work. Knowing the subject well helps but it does not get words on paper.

I never intended to have this book published but after writing two chapters totaling all of 14 double spaced pages, including the title sheet, I knew that if by some miracle of God it was published, it would have to be published by Hallmark. So what did I do with all my efforts? I put it on my webpage. That was the beginning of the “Oil Patch Tales” on TexasBob.com.

Last week when I was in Odessa a friend of mine asked, “When are you going to finish that book? I want to know how it ends.” So while stuck in the Austin airport I decided to read it online. I haven’t actually read it in years. It made me laugh. I really enjoyed thinking about my grand father “Mr. Mac” and the tank crew. So what did I do? I added a couple paragraphs to Chapter 2. At this rate I should have about 100 pages by time I’m 134 years old

TexasBob

Happy Birthday - Texas Bob

I was born during the Truman administration 55 years ago today. In the picture, taken in 1955 I’m sitting on horse in front of my brother David at the age of three. The picture was taken by an intenerate photographer who made his living going through the neighborhood taking pictures of kids on his pony. This would never happen on Ozzie and Harriet but it was common in Odessa, Texas. About two years later we got a TV from Sears and Roebuck. The local station came on the air about 2:30 in the afternoon and went off the air promptly at 10:30 PM.

The US flag only had 48 stars and Texas was the biggest state of them all. Most men work in the Oil patch seven days a week and moms stayed home with the kids.

Along time ago.