PrunePicker: July 2017

Monday, July 31, 2017

Beehive.

John and I were so excited! There was a beehive in the yard. In good view from the deck and gazebo. We were set to watch the wonders of nature and maybe get some fresh honey. The bee had moved into a squirrel house that John had installed. Look at them swarm.

Then we were so blue. The bees all left. I guess the Queen wanted more privacy. Anyway they are all gone. They did not leave any honey.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

VFW Commander JD Harper brings music to the Dixie.

I spent several delightful hours in Ruston's theatre district last night. VFW Post Commander JD Harper hosted a great musical group, the Southern Classics, at the Dixie last night. The event was a fund raiser for a new building for the local VFW Post. Here are some pictures of the affair. Sorry, no names. The musicians and singers were all very good. I enjoyed the evening. I think that we raised a lot of money too.

Friday, July 28, 2017

Trolley Tour of Louisville, Kentucky.

I went on the Trolley Tour of Louisville while I was attending the TMF Meeting. The Trolley went by many sites of interest. We really did not get out out of the bus (except at Churchill Downs). We slowed down enough to take a picture. The driver kept up a constant stream of information. He was good. He pointed out that 98 per cent of American bourbon is produced in the Louisville area.

Points of interest that the Trolley went by.

Kentucky Colonel Yum Center, Louisville Slugger Museum, Mohamed Ali Center (the most famous native of Louisville), Churchill Downs, and a street of magnificent Victorian Mansions.

Big buildings downtown. From he looks of the cement truck they are building more.

Statue of Thomas Jefferson. Another famous Thomas.

Statue of Louis the IV. A Frenchman I think.

Churchill Downs. They hold horse races here.

It was a fun Trolley ride.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

There is a water fall on the Ohio River?

Yes the river level falls 26 feet going by Louisville. A portage was required until a canal and locks were built in 1830. I heard that it cost one million and took five years to build. Of course this facility has been much improved over the years. The term used is The falls of the Ohio.

A couple miles from my hotel in Clarksville was the Falls of the Ohio Interpretation Center. What a grand thing just full of natural and historical displays. I really enjoyed my time there.

This is a statue of Lewis and Clark. Their historic journey to the Pacific Ocean started here.

I spent some time in the bird watching gallery.

Murals of the Falls of the Ohio.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

My photos of the TMF 2017 Membership Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.

At the Thomas Munson Foundation (TMF) meeting there was a registration table, name tags, and a goodies bag!

This distinguished looking gentleman is the president of the TMF. Despite the fierce look he is a nice guy!

This guy sure looks patriotic.

My prime rib. Delicious!!

This lady spoke the words of a Cherokee Princess.

This gentleman played the part of Captain Thomas Munson.

The TMF now has a song. We sang it loud and Proud.

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.