The Old PrunePicker drove over a tree! (Tree should not have been laying across my road home.)

Gazebo on Black Friday.

Body temperature mirrors my eye infection progress.

I love statistical curves and trying to correlate them with real life events. Just look at my body temperature and my very recent eye infection.

1.3 degrees may not be much of a fever, but it made me feel bad and correlated with the worst of my eye infection. I would say my normal temperature is 97.7.

Still not over the infection.

Farmers Market. 11.19.2016

Lucky Flip Flop.

Riding over to Rosa'a house with Rhonda I noticed Flop Flop put his fead out the back window.

Rhonda told me that Flip Flop pushes the window button with his paw whenever he wants to put his head out in the wind. He has not learned how to close the window yet.

Flip Flop gets around a lot on three legs but he needs help on steps and getting into the car. Rhonda takes the place of his left rear leg when required.

If you are a dog who loses a leg to cancer make sure that you live at Rhonda"s home.

Turkey Dinner. Courtesy of First Baptist.

My grand daughter, Joy, completed a half-marathon (13 miles) with a broken leg!

Joy is awesome. This is her third half-marathon. Her personal goal was to complete the race in less than two hours. In her group of runners this is called a sub two. However, a few days before the race on last Saturday her right leg started hurting. She iced it and carried on. At the start of the race her leg was hurting but not too bad. At mile nine she started slowing down and then had to jog/walk and then could only limp. X-ray indicated a broken bone. (see below).

She could not put any weight on her right leg by the time she got home. She will require a splint/cast and extensive healing time. She is blessed with a fine husband and three great boys.

This is my thought. A stress fracture occurred  a few days before the race. Her running on pavement worsened the fracture to the point that she could not run any more and indeed until she could  not walk. Joy is so conscientious that she ran through the pain. I do not know how she did it. I am so proud of her. My video (below) was made before we knew about the broken leg.

Sub two next year!

Guitar Music.

The other night I went to a concert at Tech. A classical guitar quartet played Bach etc. It was the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Very good, very professional.

I enjoyed their performance a lot. But not as much as I enjoyed the guitar performance by my son, Michael, on his youtube channel. Am I prejudiced?

Ruston's first Veterans Day Parade.

They say that there will be a Veterans Day Parade every year from now. I was surprised that was not the case, considering how patriotic the City of Ruston is.

I managed to get a bunch of video clips into one clip, presented below. It is almost 15 minutes long. (My longest video so far) At about 14 minutes two National Guard jets fly over head. Noisy! The cost 25 million each. It takes only ten minutes to fly the jets from New Orleans.

Last Home Volley Ball Game.

We (Techsters) almost won every game but lost three straight. The games were exciting. The University of Southern Mississippi was just too tough for us.

Ride Home

I wanted to show how pretty the driveway is when I pull off the highway. I love this place. Thanks to Mr and Mrs John Adams for letting me live in your yard!

My youngest daughter, Kerry Lee, turned 62 yesterday.

Kerry was born on election day. I love her and am so proud of her. After her party she fixed a delicious spaghetti dinner. It was just like her mother used to fix. I loved it and wallowed in nostalgia as I ate it. Thank you, Kerry, for being so nice. Happy Birthday!

The Old PrunePicker Voted!

Main to Main.

Main to Main Trade Days is held the first weekend in November every year. There are fifty miles of yard sales along the highway between Minden and Springhill. The route of sales winds through Sibley, Minden, Dixie Inn, Cotton Valley, Sarepto, and Cullen.

A group covered the route last Friday. They were led by Jewette Farley. Crew members were Rosa Blakley, Rhonda Ray, and Chuck Monson. I (the old prunepicker) was the official photographer.

We left Ruston at 6:30 am. After doughnuts and coffee we hit the first yard sale in Dixie Inn at 8 am. Nine hours later we made our last stop in Springhill. We were back in Ruston at 6:30 pm.

I took pictures at most stops. Jewette is an expert yard sales locator. I estimate we made about fifty yard sales. I tried to get Rosa, Rhonda and Jewette in the pictures, but sometimes only got one or two of them. The picture below is of our first stop in Dixie Inn. Rosa in black, Rhonda in pink, and Jewette in white.

The only teepee we saw.

Rosa and Rhonda were nice to pose for me. Thank you, Ladies!

They only pigs for sale on the whole route.

The hen and chicks were not for sale.

Jewette grows pecans at home but could not pass up the good price. Notice the Superman TV set.

The group enjoyed their day, had delicious tamales in Sarepto. 

Resonating Grace.

This is a family band and very good  The young step dancers out front are members of the family. It is going to be a big band soon.

Don Melon Band.

This was the lead off band of the 2016 Mountain View Bean Fest. The Harmonica Player is superb. He is also the Mayor of Mountain View.

Chase the Mustang Mascot.

Chase is the name of the Cal Poly Mustang mascot of the Cal Poly athletic teams. My daughter, Nancy, was recently on the Cal Poly campus in San Luis Obispo, California. Nancy was born in 1946 when I was a student at Cal Poly. I believe that the doctor bill was $100. That is one of the best $100 buys that I have had in my life. Nancy sent me my own stuffed Chase. Thank you, Nancy.

Nancy also sent me sweat shirt that matches Chase's sweatshirt.

The Cal Poly hat is a previous gift from my grand daughter, Joy. Thank you, Joy.

This link is to a minute video of the real life mustang, Chase. Chase

Break in at Jefferson Corner.

Friday morning, early, some one drove a vehicle through a window at the Jefferson Corner Convenience Store. Several cash registers were taken. An unsuccessful attempt was made to take the ATM machine. Here are some photos of the mess. And a short video.

Mary Harper. Mountain View Fiddle Player and Singer.

I was so impressed with Mary Harper. An eleven year old fiddle player and singer from Mountain View, Arkansas. She has been State Fiddle champion five years. So you know that she can really play the fiddle.

She also sings so good. The video below is of her singing. Dramatic, unique phrasing, and such presence. Especially for eleven years old. She has several videos on Youtube. I believe that Mary has a Native American heritage. Like my kids.

Miscellaneous Scenes from my trip to Mountain View.

Folk Music Capital of the Whole World!

Strange looking musical instrument.

The Farley Cabin.

 Jewette Farley and the old PrunePicker.

The old PrunePicker and Sue Farley. 

Stone County Courthouse.

  

Jewette picked up some prime merchandise. Sue and I were lucky to find a seat for the ride home.

Three winners from the Amateur Contest.

Typical picking session.