PrunePicker: 2015

Thursday, December 31, 2015

7 years old, Darth Vader, Presents, Balloons, Light Sabers, and a Fart Blaster.

Here is my great grandson Christian Steven Newberry at his seventh birthday party yesterday. The picture was taken by his grand father John Morgan Adams.

There was a grand time opening presents.

Balloons were released.

There was a huge Light Saber fight in the front room.

I do not if a Fart Blaster is standard equipment for a Star Wars trooper but it was a very popular and busy item at Christian's party. Pull the trigger and get disgusting sounds.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Flag folding for Robert Rinehart

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Available until Jan 29, 2016

Taps for Robert Rinehart

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Available until Jan 29, 2016

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Funeral for an American Hero. Robert Rinehart.

I went to the funeral for Robert Rinehart today. It was well attended by family and friends. You could tell that Robert was much loved, appreciated, and respected.

Bugler.

Funeral at Vernon Baptist Church Cemetery.

The coffin is carried from the hearse to the grave.

Taps was played and the flag was ceremoniously folded. The US Marines did their usual great job.

The Pastor spoke.

A grandson spoke.

Jessica Barr Rinehart. A nice grand daughter and person.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Robert Rinehart, American Hero and Good Friend just passed away.

This is a candid shot of Robert that I took at a World War II Veteran Reunion at Barksdale Air Base last February.

This is a recent picture of Robert taken at a Senior Center Luncheon in Ruston. Robert and I sat at the same table for many years.

Robert was a Marine in the Pacific. He fought in several battles and was wounded more than once. I was in the Army. Robert and I were in the Palau Island Battle and the Battle for Okinawa at the same time. There is a hill on Peleliu Island in the Palaus that was named Bloody Nose Ridge. The Battle for the Ridge was hotly contested. Robert and I were both wounded on Bloody Nose Ridge. I found it interesting that we were wounded on the same Pacific island hill and 70 years later ate lunch together on a regular basis at the same table in Louisiana.

I know what Robert went through as a Marine in the Pacific War. He also fought on Guadalcanal. He told me that while on duty he once made eye contact with Admiral Nimitz. I was impressed.

Robert Rinehart was truly an American Hero.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Christmas Eve morning at Jefferson Corner.

What a large jolly group, They were welcomed by an elf.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

John is back in the baby business.

One of John's rabbits gave birth to a bunch of young ones the other night. Freezing weather but John has installed a heat lamp. They are doing fine. Expect some bunny pictures!

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Dogs played Southern University. 12.18.2015.

Great game. We won 83 t0 76. That makes 37 straight victories at home! No tubas. No band. No cheerleaders. No pom pom ladies. No mascot. They are all in New Orleans for the bowl game that Tech plays in tonight. Watch the football game on the TV.

We won the toss.

Mr and Mrs Corley. Real fans.

Patti and Larry Hendricks. Good fans.

Mr and Mrs Right Ear. Great fans.

Our old coach.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Vital Signs.

My blood pressure is staying fairly high. Probably would go down if I let weight and walked more. I should try harder.

Date	BP before rest	BP after rest	Temp	Weight	Steps
10/6/2015	155/73	134/64-70	97.8	246.5	2600
10/7/2015	147/99	145/67-71	97.8	245.5	4100
10/8/2015	161/77	133/60-71	97.9	245.5	6000
10/9/2015	156/64	142/67-77	98.3	245.3	4400
10/10/2015	167/69	134/68-71	98.1	244.3	3200
10/11/2015	167/84	142/75-67	97.7	244.3	2000
10/12/2015	150/77	124/69-76	98.2	246.1	1500
10/13/2015	162/76	139/72-69	97.8	246.1	2700
10/14/2015	169/82	140/73-72	97.8	247.5	2000
10/15/2015	170/74	155/76-77	98.0	248.3	2100
10/16/2015	176/74	135/76-77	98.0	248.3	2300
10/17/2015	190/83	138/73-71	98.1	247.3	2900
10/18/2015	146/89	141/70-70	97.7	245.9	3100
10/19/2015	179/99	159/74-69	97.6	247.3	1900
10/20/2015	154/75	142/62-70	97.6	246.6	3400
10/21/2015	146/69	130/68-75	97.8	248.1	1300
10/22/2015	138/66	125/57-71	98.1	248.7	2400
10/23/2015	160/74	128/67-71	98.0	248.0	2300
10/24/2015	143/62	122/60-73	98.5	248.0	3100
10/25/2015	147/75	122/63-69	98.3	249.2	1100
10/26/2015	161/77	138/68-67	97.8	250.6	1200
10/27/2015	154/74	133/72-65	97.9	250.5	2600
10/28/2015	158/74	142/73-64	97.72	250.0	2000
10/29/2015	168/81	145/72-67	97.7	249.5	3600
10/30/2015	165/83	127/65-65	98.0	250.3	900
10/31/2015	156/72	121/62-64	97.8	250.1	3100
11/1/2015	174/79	154/72-67	97.8	249.6	2200
11/2/2015	171/76	129/70-64	98.1	247.9	1900
11/3/2015	155/69	113/59-64	98.0	248.9	2800
11/4/2015	145/71	140/65-65	98.0	249.5	2100
11/5/2015	144/79	145/69-65	98.1	250.3	4500
11/6/2015	142/73	133/65-61	97.9	250.3	2900
11/7/2015	158/79	126/66-63	97.9	247.9	4900
11/8/2015	168/96	133/67-63	97.8	248.3	2000
11/9/2015	161/82	148/78-68	97.7	250.2	2800
11/10/2015	145/70	140/63-61	97.8	250.9	2300
11/11/2015	155/75	147/75-67	97.8	251.8	2100
11/12/2015	161/75	144/77-69	97.7	250.7	2900
11/13/2015	170/85	140/69-62	97.7	251.1	3100
11/14/2015	189/81	135/84-65	97.6	250.2	3300
11/15/2015	168/75	139/89-68	97.9	250.4	3200
11/16/2015	148/79	124/65-67	97,8	251.2	2800
11/17/2015	152/74	140/68-68	98,4	251.2	2900
11/18/2015	145/76	125/58-65	97.7	252.4	1400
11/19/2015	165/77	142/74-63	97.7	253.4	3000
11/20/2015	1679/71	137/67-67	97.9	250.9	1000
11/21/2015	163/77	135/73-66	97.9	249.9	1900
11/22/2015	156/71	132/72-64	97.7	248.9	1800
11/23/2015	167/77	128/68-69	97.7	249.2	1400
11/24/2015	160/81	147/76-72	97.8	269.8	1300
11/25/2015	163/75	137/67-67	97.9	249.8	1700
11/26/2015	145/66	131/61-71	98.1	246.8	1500
11/27/2015	136/64	121/55-70	98.4	251.0	1600
11/28/2015	157/52	135/70-66	98.0	251.0	3200
11/29/2015	138/63	126/63-72	98.5	251.5	1500
11/30/2015	154/78	140/75-68	97.9	250.7	1100
12/1/2015	155/69	140/70-68	98.0	250.7	1700
12/2/2015	162/69	126/66-64	97.9	252.3	2100
12/3/2015	165/75	140/66-67	98.0	251.3	3200
12/4/2015	161/70	132/68-64	98.0	251.3	2200
12/5/2015	152/67	134/59-68	97.7	250.5	2600
12/6/2015	173/79	137/76-67	97.7	251.1	1400
12/7/2015	162/74	133/66-69	98.1	252.1	700
12/8/2015	148/73	128/62-67	98.4	253.4	2600
12/9/2015	161/75	134/61-67	98.2	253.4	2700
12/10/2015	172/75	142/78-66	97.7	254.2	2200
12/11/2015	157/73	150/68-66	98.3	253.9	1400
12/12/2015	157/70	136/62-65	98.4	253.9	2200
12/13/2015	157/74	133/70-66	98.3	252.7	3100
12/14/2015	167/68	130/68-61	97.7	252.2	3100
12/15/2015	169/74	147/70-64	97.7	252.6	1600
12/16/2015	144/74	139/73-69	97.9	252.9	2700
12/17/2015	150/70	152/69-67	98.1	252.7	2600

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.