PrunePicker: 2017

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Christian had a great Ninth Birthday Party!

Big crowd, smiles and laughter, presents, games, good food, and a little singing. The party was held at Johnny's Pizza Parlor in West Monroe.

Part of the crowd. Nice people.

Christian is sporting a yellow mustache.

Present opening.

Sweet cousins.

Johnny Lynn, Cousin.

Happy Birthday, Christian.

Old friends and cousins.

Family pic. Ethan, Ross, Joy, Christian, and David.

The cake says "Happy Birthday, Christian." What else?

Johnny Lynn Miller, my youngest great grand child visited Ruston.

It is a long ride from Franklinton to Ruston. JL came to visit her grand folks and to attend the Ninth Birthday Party of her cousin Christian, who lives in West Monroe. She is now the only great grand child (of nine) that I have who is under nine years old.

Christian's Party is to be held at Johnny's Pizza Parlor in West Monroe on Saturday Dec. 30. JL will hold a place of honor (as nearest cousin) at the party. Her Ninth Birthday Party will be held on July 4. She is a firecracker, alright!

Look at JL's sparkly shoes.

Vital Signs for December 2017

Feel bad as I gained five pounds during the month. My blood pressure history is good. I will try to loose some weight in January.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Couple of old friends came for a visit.

These are old friends of mine. They are Jasper the black and white Spaniel and Flip-Flop the three legged Grand Pyrenees. Rhonda thinks that Flip-Flop weighs 130 pounds. If he had four legs he might be as heavy as Hunter. Hunter is a 150 pound German Shepard that lives with my niece Annie in California.

The guys like my front room.

Oh oh! It looks like they brought friend Rhonda with them. She is cleaning up my trailer a bit.

My trailer needed a cleaning. Thank you, Rhonda.

Hurry back good friends!

Saturday, December 23, 2017

David Newberry MD (Doctor of Motors)

David, with his training, experience, and intelligence, can place you in the Ford that is just right for you.

David is my great grandson in law. He is also a great guy, husband and father. David sells Fords at Hixson Ford. Hixson Ford is located on Interstate 20 just East of Monroe. Hixson Ford is the largest dealer in the area. Hixson Ford has a great reputation for service. This reputation has been earned by the service of several generations of the Hixson Family.

David is backed by a superb staff. From the left in the photo below is Christian, Joy, and Ross. Oldest son Ethan is at work at his other job. (Chic Filet in West Monroe.)

PS. My other great grandson in law, Justin Miller, sells Chevys in Franklinton, Louisiana. I owe him a blog post like this one!

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Shoeshine Boy

I was a good one!

ten cents per shine.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Techsters win!

I saw a good game last night. McNeese paid us a visit. They put up a good game but the Techsters won.

Formation for the National anthem. The Tech Band Choir sang it beautifully.

Coach Stohr concentrating. She is doing a good job. I wish her all the best.

Greg is guarding the scoreboard.

What a great band!

Final score.

Part of the Tech Band played Carols.

Short video of a Carol.

Friday, December 15, 2017

Bah! Humbug! Do not send me Christmas presents!

Patches and I are very happy with what we have. We request please, that no presents be sent to us. We have everything that we need. I participate in the season by sending a small present to our great grandchildren under 18.

Oops! I was in the middle of writing this blog when I received a present from Nancy and Bob (daughter and son in law). A lovely box of fresh pears (with nuts and cheese) from Oregon.

They are so delicious. How did Bob and Nancy know that I needed some pears? Thanks, folks.

I want to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for the Season.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Friends at the game.

I went to the basketball game last night. We played Jackson State and won.

I said to myself "Self, why don't you take pics of all the people you know at the game?" So I did. It involved several pics and a couple dozen people. Even tho I have known these people for years, I do not know all of their names. Shame on me!

This first pic is of John Jeffcoat, fellow sports fan and member of the Jefferson Corner Liars Club. He starts the fire and coffee at the Unionville Store Saturday morning breakfast.

This distinguished gentleman is a fellow member of the Tech swim activities. I will add his name when I get it tomorrow morning. Ricky Kelly. Good basketball player and fan.

This is Greg Grambling, sports fan and track expert. We watch volleyball together. He has had that seat since the stadium was built.

This is the Whites and their progeny. Longtime Tech family.

John Otwell and good friend. Really basketball fans. Every game.

Justin, devoted Tech fan. They should let him build his house in the middle of the Tech Campus!

This is the Skip Russells and a wonderful foursome from the next generation. Real good fans and citizens All six of them.

John and Susan Corley. Lifetime friends of John Adams. Real fans,

This is the left ear of Old Right ear. This is all I could get. Mr Coleman uses a cane now but still gets to the games.

Tommy Ledford II wonders who is that guy pointing a camera at him.

He warns Sue and grandson. Nice people. The grandson brought me a box of popcorn at halftime!

91 to 62. Would have been hundred but they missed 3 or 4 three pointers.

The Tech drummers entertained at halftime. 60 second video.

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.