PrunePicker: December 2014

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Vital Signs 0n New Years Eve. January 31, 2014.

Last set of vitals for the year. Columns are date, steps/weight, high blood press/low blood pressure-pulse, and temperature.

My weight is slipping up. My blood pressure is pretty good. Notice on 12/20 I only took 1000 steps. That is almost sitting all day! I hope to do better.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

20th straight home-court win for the Latech Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs hosted Southern Arkansas last night. They won the game 74 to 52. This was their 20th straight win at home. They start league games now and should face tougher competition.

Do I look startled to have a pretty Lady leaning on me? That is sweet Melinda Thigpen who visited me during the game. She graciously agreed to join me in a selfie.

Zero tuba game. No band, no cheer leaders, no pom pom girls, no Champ.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Scenes at Jefferson Corner this morning. Tommy Boddie and Friend.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Janice and Dwight King at the Waffle House.

John and I had breakfast at the Waffle House this morning. We were so pleased to visit with Janice and Dwight King. (old friends from Jefferson Corner)

Below is a panoramic picture of the Waffle House.

Below is a picture of Janice and Dwight King.

The Kings sure look good. Dwight is busy contracting and Janice still works for Jefferson Corner

storage. It was great to visit with them. They send their best wishes to the Blakley Ladies in Swartz.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

I had help checking the mail and papers.

The chickens were up at the highway to help me pick up the mail and newspapers today. They are a lot of company.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Kerry's three sweet cats.

I am taking care of these three nice cats while Kerry and John are in Franklinton. They are fun. Especially Felix.

Caramel

Belle

Felix

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Christmas Eve and Esophageal Manometry.

What a jolly day. Jeff deadened my right nostril and inserted this tubing.

The tubing was about 15 inches long and went down my throat and out the end of my esophagus and into my stomach. I was given swallows of water. Each swallow was observed on the manometry graph.

The red line on the right would show waves as the swallow of water went down my esophagus. The lower part of my esophagus was indicated to not relax. This could be the reason for my swallowing difficulty.

Medical Technician Jeff and the Doctor were pleased with the test result.

I hope these nice gentlemen do not mind these candid pictures taken by their patient, the old Prunepicker. They were so competent and gracious. I want to thank them for their good work.

An appointment has been made for placing some Botox in the lower part of my esophagus. The Botox relaxes muscles. This may ease my swallowing problem.

This was an unpleasant experience. I hope that you had better things to do on Christmas Eve.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

Monday, December 22, 2014

Rabbit Report.

Pretty rabbits that go with John's Chickens. 5 or 6 weeks old. They are eating cabbage.

Grouchy old buck. He bites!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Graysons of Clarence, Louisiana.

The Russells took me to dinner at one of the fine restaurants of Northern Louisiana.

Nice front door.

I asked the Chef if the restaurant had enough ham for the Christmas Season. She said that they had enough.

Carolyn counted 71 hams. And there were a couple dozen in the back room. These hams are all special order at $99 each.

The Grayson Restaurant has been in business a long time. It was there when Carolyn started school at North Western.

Natchitoches. Christmas lights and fireworks.

Carolyn and Skip invited me for an evening with them and their family at the lights and fireworks in Natchitoches. I had a great time. There were about two dozen Russell kin there. They are really nice folk. It was heart warming to see how they loved each other. Carolyn's 94 year mother was carefully wrapped in a blanket by grand daughters. I wish that I had taken pictures of the family.

Here is a picture from the Russell's Facebook page.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Prunepicker at Natchitoches

Friday, December 19, 2014

Bulldogs have won 19 Home Games in a row.

Last nights win against Nicholls State was the 19th consecutive win in their home arena.

Loyal fans!

Justin needn't have worried.

Champ had a time keeping up with his dance partner.

Six tuba game!

My niche in the Blogosphere.

My blog is about me, my family, my interests, my opinions, and my daily activities. My name is Chuck Monson. I am a native born Californian. I worked in the oil exploration and production business and am now retired and living in Ruston, Louisiana. I am a 91 year old widower. I blog because I really enjoy it. Posting gives me a schedule and is a wonderful make work project. I like pictures, both the taking and looking at them. I really like old historic pictures. I enjoy a good photograph. I like putting pictures and text together in a way that is hopefully interesting to others and that will be interesting to me in the future. I like to be silly now and then. It is also putting my memories down on paper. My blog serves as a diary. I have used it for a reference quite a few times.

I do mix it up. Some of my blogs are “what I had for breakfast”, some are just pictures, some are items of genealogical nature, and there are items from my family history. I have a history of the Munson/Monsons in America. The study of this history has led me to the discovery of much American history that had previously been unknown by me.

I have had a lifelong interest in history, archeology, philosophy, religion, politics, architecture, technical subjects, music, food, and sports. I spend time every day reading blogs and posting to my blog. I do not pontificate on religion or politics because I do not consider myself wise enough to try to persuade others to my beliefs. My beliefs are quite nebulous anyway.

I was started on blogging by my late son, Christopher David Monson. Chris wrote the blog "snaggletoothie of the Loyal Opposition" There is a link to his blog above. I look at Chris's blog often. I have read most of his posts.

My adult years.

I married Jackie Lois Ireton in 1944 in San Luis Obispo, California. I met her on a blind date when I was taking amphibious training at Moro Bay. We have been blessed with four children, nine grand children, and nine great grandchildren. They are an exceptional group. I love them and I am proud of them.

I was an army combat engineer (infantry with shovels) during World War II. I served in the Pacific. I was wounded on Peleliu Island helping the marines on Bloody Nose Ridge. I was shot in both legs just above the knees. The wound locations indicate that I was not running away.

I received a BSME in 1950 from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. Jackie received a PHT. (pushing husband through.) I retired from oilfield work in 1985. Jackie and I moved into a fifth wheel trailer and enjoyed the RV lifestyle until Jackie's health failed. We traveled across the continent 3 1/2 times. We spent a summer as volunteers at Acadia National Park. For 17 years we helped build an Escapee RV park in Chimacum, Washington. Jackie passed away in 2007. We had been married 63 years. We were married on June 3, 1944. I still live in our fifth wheel trailer. It is parked in the yard of my daughter Kerry's home in Ruston, Louisiana. It is by far the nicest RV park that I have ever lived in.

My teen age years.

I was born in 1925 in Pomona, California. Pomona is on the east edge of Los Angeles County. It is halfway between Los Angeles and San Bernardino and halfway between the mountains and the beach. I thought that it was great to be an hour from snow covered mountains and an hour from the ocean surf.

In my days of growing up, Pomona was completely surrounded by orchards and truck farms. Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, peaches, apricots, olives, persimmons, and walnuts. Watermelons and strawberries. During the depression I had many meals from the orchards.

They say that you cannot go back home. That is true of the Pomona Valley of my youth. Because it is no longer there. Most of it is now covered with asphalt and stucco buildings.

My ancestors.

I am getting more and more into genealogy. I have a trove of information on the Munsons/Monsons. My father is buried in California. His father by adoption (He was an uncle.) is buried in Kansas. His natural father is buried in Kentucky. So I have two grandfathers. I have a grandfather and four great grandfathers buried in Kentucky, one great buried in New Jersey, and three greats buried in Connecticut. I have two greats buried in Rattlesden, Suffolk, England. I have been led to believe that my ancestors before that came from Denmark and Normandy.

Captain Thomas Munson was the first Munson to move to America. He was baptized in Rattlesden, England in 1612. The baptismal font is still in use. He served in the militia in the Pequot Indian Wars in 1637. He served in the militia all his life and reached the status of Captain. His signature is on the founding document for New Haven, Connecticut.

In 2011 I visited New Haven and took pictures of his gravestone. In May 2012 my oldest daughter Nancy Ann escorted me to England and France. We visited Rattlesden and I took some pictures of the Captain's baptismal font.

Why is the old prune picker living in Ruston, Louisiana?

In 2006 my wife Jackie was in poor health. Jackie had kidney failure and was on dialysis. She had heart problems for some time with A-fib. She had fallen and broken her hip. She had broken ribs and vertebra just moving around normally. My family thought that I needed help caring for Jackie. My daughter Kerry and her husband John offered to park our trailer in their backyard in Ruston and help. Jackie and I accepted their kind offer. My daughter Nancy accompanied Jackie in an airplane flight from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington to Ruston. My son Mike took time off to help me pull our trailer for five long days to our new home. We were and are grateful. We enjoyed our new home very much.

Unfortunately and sadly, Jackie passed away in six months. I had sold our truck and was permanently parked. I was ready to give up full time RVing anyway. It is very pleasant in Ruston and I am close to family. So that is why I have been living in Ruston, Louisiana since October 2006.