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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FROM THE BACK OF THE BERMUDA, 10/13/2024
It’s been a good week in Fort Stockton. But then, someone once told me, “If you don’t think every week is a good week, just try missing one.” Cooler temps are becoming the norm, even dropping down into the sixties at night. I have a greater appreciation for the sixties than I used to, whether that involves…
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ONE IN THE CHAMBER
Some mornings you can barely get into the Grounds for Divorce. I mean, it’s obvious when you round the corner next to the Piggly Wiggly that the place is going to be jam-packed. The parking lot is full of old iron and there’s old guys standing around in shorts and Hawaiian shirts in the parking lot peering…
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ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
Nobody thought that the meeting was going to be a celebration. They all knew that 1975 sales were down by 610,184 over 1974. They all knew there probably wouldn’t be any bonuses this year, except those at the very top. They seemed to get bonuses no matter what, even though it was their decisions that normally led to…
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OKAY, BUT WHY?
When I was a mere broth of a lad, still living at home and under the tutelage of Mr. and Mrs. Captain, I’m sure I was like most in similar conditions and was heavily influenced by their customs and habits. “The apple doesn’t fall from the tree,” as the old saying goes. Back in the day…
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RESULTS MY VARY
Dearest Mr. El Capitán, This day, this very day, my newest and most prized possession, my CMC cap, saw the light of day! Unbeknownst to most of the world, the thriving city of Marble Falls held a classic car show on their used to be, but still named, Main Street (Oct. 5). The Little Woman and I…
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INKING THE DEAL
The talk at the Grounds for Divorce generally centers around cars. Sure, there are diversions if the Jim Bowie High Knives lost a close one, or the minor league baseball team, the Fort Stockton Mud Hens are either starting a new season, or win more than two games in a row. But eventually things wind their ways…
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FROM THE BACK OF THE BERMUDA, 10/7/2024
The boys from Arizona pulled into Fort Stockton long about dusk on Saturday. It’s always dicey meeting someone in person you’ve only emailed with in the past, but the awkwardness was short lived and we made our way over to the Lucky Lady Lounge so they could get a feel for the Fort and maybe meet…
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THE NEXT ASSIGNMENT, Chapter VII
The first thing Gunter noticed when he got out of the El Gabacho was the way Becky’s eyes followed Chad’s every move. He thought at first that her gaze was one of suspicion, but the closer he watched her, the more he saw the same look in her eye that Mrs. Drury had in her…
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THE NEXT ASSIGNMENT, Chapter VI
Thad Gunter slept late and woke up hungover; two things that rarely ever occurred, much less at the same time. The curtains on the window in Room 7 were slightly ajar, allowing a single beam of sunlight to penetrate the room like a knife slicing through his retina. On the table below the window he…
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THE NEXT ASSIGNMENT, Chapter V
Thad Gunter thought he was being stealthy. But a well dressed dandy in a Midnight Orchid Eldoradanental coupe stuck out in Fort Stockton like a shiny diamond in a cow turd. Vern filled folks in on what he could glean from cleaning his room daily, but that info was pretty sketchy. “He seems to go…