STORIES
If our lives are a book, the cars we drive define the chapters.
These are stories featuring cars, trucks, and even RVs that played a role in the lives of the people who owned or drove them. Many are set in Fort Stockton, Texas and involve a cast of characters in and around the dusty southwest Texas town. A lot of the stories are shared around the table at The Grounds for Divorce, where the ‘regulars’ meet.
Pull up a chair and let Lucinda pour you a hot cuppa joe and enjoy.
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WHERE AMERICA WENT WRONG
“You wanna know just where America went wrong?” Ennis asked. Denton started nodding in agreement before the question could even be answered. Nobody wanted to know the answer, of course. But they darn sure didn’t want to suffer the wrath of stating as much. “I’ll tell you exactly just where America went wrong,” he went on. “They stopped making…
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ROMANCING THE ROADMASTER
When Lieutenant Henry Dornan got his orders to ship out to the European theater in the summer of ’42 his girl, Dotty, insisted they get married before he reported for duty. He was a realist and argued for waiting till his return. She was a romantic and would have none of it. They made a…
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EVERYWHERE A SIGN
Back in about ’71 or so a young, wild, blonde haired kid came through Fort Stockton in a rig just about like this one, eight shades of rust on the outside and a Navajo interior on the inside. A Hemi under the hood and a surfboard strapped on top, something hardly ever seen around the…
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LET’S MAKE A DEAL
“A thoroughbred with the soul of a workhorse.” That’s what they used to call Ben Tolbert. He had impeccable manners, was well read, and had never been known to take even a single stroke off his score card when playing a round over at the Fort Stockton Country Club. Just an upstanding guy. About the only two things…
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HARLAN’S CHOICE
Harlan Holmstead taught Advanced Mathematics at Jim Bowie High School and was always a numbers guy. What he lacked in charisma he made up for with his knowledge of intricate formulas, or so he reassured himself. His horn-rimmed glasses and Hush Puppies made sure no one ever confused him with James Bond, to be sure.…
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MACH I MANUEVERS
When the Lone Star Flyer pulled into the station in late November, 1971 the gentleman disembarking the Pullman car looked no different than most any other passenger passing through Fort Stockton. Nobody took much notice of him. He seemed a little disheveled from the trip, but the long ride from the Pacific Northwest took its…
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BUMPER CROP
“I know it’s hotter than the hinges of Hell, but you’re all becoming insufferable.” Apparently Lucinda had reached her limit. “You can’t even find anything to look at on Bring a Trailer? Come on! So what if it’s triple digits outside. It’s triple digits outside in Fort Stockton ALL SUMMER. EVERY SUMMER! Has whining about it ever made it different?” Everyone around the…
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GERANIUM AND RUBY
Jeez Louise it’s hot. I mean, not just the run-of-the-mill Fort Stockton hot. It is polar-ice-caps-melting hot. Call it whatever you want to, depending on whatever side of the political line dividing America you fall on, but it is just too damn hot. The soil, baking in the blast furnace of the summer sun without relief, is now…
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THIS OLD ROADMASTER
Hadn’t seen one like this since Stuart Hamblen drove through Fort Stockton in one on his way to go hunting in the High Sierras. For you whippersnappers who have no idea who Stuart Hamblen was, just know that beyond his impeccable taste in automobiles made of maple and mahogany, he was a minor movie star…
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TUG-N-PONY SHOW
Tug Filson drives one of these. Low mileage. Great looking Mustang if you’re one who appreciates this particular generation. Tug, himself, is a bit of an odd duck. Hard to dislike til you get to know him. He’s not a regular over at the Grounds for Divorce, but stops in every once in a while. If you asked New Guy who…