The dude built him a castle

When I was a kid we lived in a tiny little town called Sealy, Texas. Home of Eric Dickerson and the Sealy Mattress Company (which is no longer in Sealy. Instead they now have the Acme Brick Company, which by no small coincidence is located in my old house)
It was strange living in a small town. The population was in the five thousands. Not only did everyone know everyone else, but practically everyone was related, which is kind of gross.
Everyone knew everyone else's business. Everyone knew everyone else's phone number.
And it was really small. A mile or maybe a little more could get you to the other end of town. We never drove anywhere. We walked to school. We walked to the store.
Like I said, it was really strange.

If you've ever lived in a small town, you know that there is never anything to do. You have to make your own entertainment. And that's what makes for some really good stories later in life. That's how you develop unusual skills. You learn to do things like ride your bicycle up on top of the railroad track. Not on the bumpy part. On the skinny part. And then you go across the bridge. As you are doing it, you know that in the morning it's going to be the talk of the town. Either some kid rode his bicycle over the railroad bridge, up on top of the track, or some kid fell off the bridge. You can really come up with some amazing stories from living in a small town. You might walk the twelve miles over to Bellville (the rival town) and fertilize a cussword in the middle of the football field so that it will grow more than the rest of the field (and then walk the twelve miles back), or you might ask the newspaper editor to put something unusual in the paper so that you can make some money placing a bet on it the next morning.

I'm sure there is a point in here somewhere. Oh yes, I remember it now.

Some guy built himself a castle. By hand.




So next time you are in Bellville, Texas, stop in the donut shop and ask Newman about his castle. I bet he would even take you out to go see it.