Vital Signs and remarks.

Good progress on weight. Lost eight pounds in the month. That is 30 pounds in three months. (Started diet on July 1) Louisiana has the highest percentage of obese people in the USA. I want to lower that percentage.

Blood pressure is good enough that the Doctor let me cut my heart medicine in half. (Atenolol)

I had esophagus treatment in September. Had big problem swallowing first thing in the morning (One time I thought that I was going to pass out) and also in general. This was the sixth time that my esophagus has been stretched. Helped some, but not very much. I think that I should get used to eating very carefully (especially in the morning) and get by without further treatment. They seem to help less and less.

Incidentally in 292 days I will be 92.  In 1388 days I will be 95. I might make it.

A visit with Patches.

A further walk in Cook Park.

Quaint Cajun Funeral Music.

Went to Tech last night and saw The Fabulous Equinox Orchestra. The orchestra is run by two Louisiana Tech graduates, Clay Johnson and Jeremy Davis. These fellows met in the 7th grade in Wast Monroe and have been together (musically) ever since. The orchestra is based in Savannah, Georgia. They play very very good. Old standards and new standards.

Below is Clay singing and Jeremy playing first saxophone.

The second from the right saxophone player is the famous Laurence Gibbs. Lawrence recently retired from the Tech music faculty.

They can play the tune played in the video below at my funeral.

PrunePicker Memories of my brother, James Keith Monson

Keith was born in 1916 in Redlands, California and passed away in 1975 in Pomona, California at the age of 59.

Keith was the jolliest and funniest of my siblings. I can remember him taking his teeth out and making faces. He loved to make people laugh. I could not believe the news when I was told that he had committed suicide. So as not to mess up the house he had gone out in to the backyard and shot himself with his shotgun. Keith was a heavy drinker and I heard that he was having problems at work.  Keith died at the youngest age of all my siblings. 59 next Jean at 65 (brain tumor). The oldest was Dallas at 98. I do not expect to break Dallas's record.

An oft told Monson family story was that at the age of 12 Keith had taken a Model T Ford engine apart and put it back together. And it ran! Keith was a mechanic or in mechanical maintenance all of his life.

Keith was eight years older than me. I remember him coming home on leave from the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) in his sun tan uniform and telling us about his adventures in the Corps.

About this time Keith was in a terrible motorcycle accident. His right leg below the knee was really mangled. The doctors wanted to cut the leg off. But my Father insisted no. Keith had to wear a metal and leather brace on that leg the rest of his life. I can remember Keith healing for months in the living room of the house on Third Street. I can still remember seeing the terrible wound healing up. To help pass time Keith would play a guitar and sing for us.

I remember being in the living room of a house down the street at Keith's first wedding. The room was packed with people. The wedding was annulled in a month.  This was sort of dramatic to me. The Matthews Family (Okies from Oklahoma) lived across the alley from us and Keith married LaVerne Mathews. They had three beautiful girls. They were a beautiful family.

After Keith married LaVerne they were living in El Segundo, where Keith had a job. I can remember staying with them a few days once, early in their wedding. Years later they were still living in El Segundo when I came home from the war. Jackie and I visited Keith's home. On a trip to the grocery store, Keith used my celebrity as a returning veteran to get the butcher to sell him some bacon! Bacon, shoes, gasoline and coffee were in very short supply in those days.

Keith worked in an airplane factory all during World Wr II. I told people that I had a brother in the Marines (George), and a brother (Warren) in the Navy, a brother (Keith) who was a defense worker, and I was in the Army. Soldiers at that time were called Dogfaces. My brothers enjoyed calling me a Dogface! My brothers were all involved with airplanes. One built them, one flew them, and one repaired them. I operated a rifle and a shovel in the Combat Engineers.

I love Keith. He was a sweet guy. My heart is heavy when I think about his last years. I am sure that those years were sad and tragic because of alcohol.

A Sunday morning walk.

Ride to Unionville Store.

Number 55. Ross John Newberry.

Rode over to Sterlington last night with John and Kerry to see Ross (a great grandson) play football. Boy he did good. Several tackles. He plays center line backer. When I played in junior high, I always looked up to line backers. They were faster and tougher than us guards.

Ross is even a captain. See 55 walking in for the coin toss. Imagine, the old PrunePicker is the great grand father of a captain!

One of sterlington's players was hurt. I hope that it is not too serious.

The final handshake.

A pretty sunset saw us off to drive home.

A walk in Cook Park.

Sitting in the back yard.

Tour of PrunePicker Home

Reenactment of the Battle of Arcadia Crossroads.

Some still photos I took on reconnaissance. (spying)

Photos of camp.

Camp from other side of pond.

Photos of the infantry.

Thousands of people are involved in these Civil War Battle Reenactments. It is a hobby that involves much time, equipment, and effort. One of the tents in the camp sold clothing and stuff that goes with the Civil War. The Bonnie and Clyde Trading Post in Arcadia is an ideal background for an reenactment. I enjoyed my time as a War Correspondent.

Choudrant 2016 National Outhouse Races.

The PrunePicker was there yesterday right on the finish line.

The final race was so close that they had to check two cameras. Choudrant Fire won by two inches!

PrunePicker Memories of my sister, Donna Susie Lewis.

Donna was born in Redlands, California in 1913 and passed away in Hanford, California in 2009 at the age of 95. She was the youngest of the five Monson girls. She was just a little younger than her twin Dallas. You have heard the story about the presence of Donna was not known. She was turning black when they found her due to the cord around her neck!

What a lovely lady. I have many happy precious memories of Donna. One of the earliest is of her bathing her first born, her son Jim, in the kitchen of her home and drying him on the kitchen counter. I was impressed being around a new mother and child.

When I had pneumonia at the age of six I came home from the hospital to her home. I remember her giving me ice cream out of a carton. This is about the only memory that I have of store bought ice cream. The only ice cream I had in those years was ice cream the family made in a freezer at home. Usually at a family gathering. I remember everyone visiting in the house and the ice cream was on the porch (unguarded) and I was able to get seconds until my temperature dropped. And I got a headache. A ice cream headache.

Later when I was a little older (at Donna's home) I was given the job of turning the crank on the ice cream freezer. Whoops! I turned in the wrong direction. The ice cream did not properly freeze. They called me "Wrong way Corrigan". You remember Douglas Corrigan who (in 1938) by mistake (don't believe it) flew from Brooklyn to Ireland instead of to Long Beach, California. He will be ever known as Wrong way Corrigan. He ran for the Senate in 1946. I remember shaking his hand on the streets of San Luis Obispo when Jackie and I were going to Cal Poly.

I remember watching Donna mixing the batter for breakfast waffles in the evening. I remember that she mixed walnuts in the batter in the morning. She said the nuts would turn rancid if they were in the batter overnight. The waffles were really good. Donna was right.

I watched her make 1000 island salad dressing. It was so good. You know that the islands are chopped up hard boiled eggs, don't you? Donna was such a good cook. Talented in many ways.

One time I was living at her house. I came home one evening and while still in the yard I overheard Albert Kirby (Donna's first husband) complaining about me staying there. He wanted to know when I was leaving. He wanted me gone. I turned on my heels and left. I slept under some bushes that night. I went to a friends house and crawled under the bushes and laid next to the house foundation.

I remember going with Albert and Donna to the Foursquare Church in Pomona. (Church founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in the thirties.) A guest preacher in a cowboy suit gave the sermon one time. He wore a great big white cowboy hat. He impressed me.

I did not have much contact with Donna during the war and while going to CalPoly. 1943 to 1950. When I graduated I got a job with the Air Reduction Company. I was the store manager for the AIRCO store in Bakersfield. Donna had moved to Bakersfield. We got together a lot then. By this time Jackie and I had two children. (I was around a new mother and child quite a bit in those days.)

Donna gave us a puppy who lived with us for 15 years. I think Lucky was half coyote and half collie. He chewed up many toys.

Donna attended Bakersfield High with her sons. She worked as a book keeper for several firms in Bakersfield. She and Albert parted ways. In the sixties she got a good job as an accounting supervisor with Caltrans in Los Angeles. She even got a new husband, Lester Lewis.

Donna and Lester lived in Santa Monica much of the time that Jackie and I lived in Orange County. We visited a lot. Donna and Lester were top on the list for Thanksgiving, etc. They were good company (and family). Lester bought a two seater sports car and wore a beret. Donna and Lester traveled a lot in it. Lester even drove it at drag strips. I forget how fast it was. It was a real sports car.

When Jackie and I were living in Texas Donna and Lester stopped by several times.

Later when Jackie and I were retired and living in Chimacum, Washington and Dallas was living in Oregon City, Oregon, Donna came to visit Dallas. I drove down for the visit. I believe that this is the last time that Donna and Dallas were together. This picture was taken then. The last of the Nine Monson children. We sat for hours around the kitchen table and visited.

It was a great visit (Donna had family with her). It must have been around 2004. The passing of these two ladies (Donna in 2009 and Dallas in 2011) really struck a sad note in my life. They were such a great part of my life. I love them.

View from the gazebo.

John and I left at six am to go to the VA Hospital in Shreveport. By eight I was on a gurney with an IV in stuck in my arm. I got the same treatment that I got in January 2, 2015. A esophagus stretch and a botox injection. Helped my swallowing for 15 or more months. I hope that this treatment will last longer than that.

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Posted By Chuck Monson to PrunePicker at 9/16/2016 05:41:00 PM

Going for the morning papers.

I am all goofed up, but you should get a Vlog post if you click my pic.

Techsters Volleyball team loses a point.

Techsters play volleyball. Jackson State.

Another ho hum volleyball game last night. Beat Jackson State three straight sets, so we went home early. I have not seen the Techsters ever lose a set in two game nights.

The teams say hello.

My friend in this selfie is Greg Gambling. (Yes the same name as the college and the city next door) Greg is a terrific sports fan. He helps me with the rules and fine points of any game. Tech played football Saturday night. Four hours of delay for lightning. Game started at ten instead of six. Game ended after one in the morning. Greg was there for the whole seven hours!. Didn't I say he was a terrific sports fan?

Fingers up by the winners!

Won three sets. The third set score was 25 to 13.

I am not wishing the Techsters any bad luck but it would be nice to see a tough game.

Esophagus Problems.

In June of 2002 I had my esophagus stretched for the first time. I mentioned in my notes that I had passed out three times from a hard swallow prior to that time. Since then I have had increasing difficulty with swallowing. I have had my esophagus stretched four times since then. The last time was in January 2015. A piece of botox was inserted in my esophagus with the last stretch job to relax the muscles. This helped my swallowing for over a year. I have been having problems again for several months now.

Swallowing is an involved process involving 30 muscle groups. In my case a hard swallow can cause me to pass out. In January 2013 I passed out and fell to the floor. I had no problems, or indication of a blow to my head, but in two months I had a sleight stroke. An x-ray indicated my brain was bleeding. This was repaired with surgery. (a hard swallow can cause your brain to bleed)

A couple of mornings ago I had a hard swallow that gave me such a strong pass out feeling that I laid down flat on the floor. (Afraid of falling again)

Both of these swallows were on the very first swallow in the morning. I have notice lately that I have trouble early in the morning. I have been waiting some time in the mornings before I eat. (I love breakfast!)

I mentioned these facts in a note to my VA Doctor. Dr Jacquelin Carter. (Bless her) Last night she called me late in the evening (Sunday Night) and told me to go to the emergency room. I did just that this morning and now have an appointment for an EGD and treatment next Friday.

I understand that are no hard swallows in heaven.

PrunePicker Memories of my sister Dallas Nona Johnson.

Dallas was the fourth girl (and child) born in my family. Close behind her was her twin sister Donna. No one knew Donna was there. By the time they discovered her she was turning black for lack of oxygen. Her cord was around her neck and shutting off her air. Dallas and Donna were very unlike twins. They were close all of their lives, but so different. Dallas was fair and a blonde. Donna had a darker complexion and was a brunette. Dallas was quiet and shy. Donna was not shy. Donna did all the talking for the two.

These pictures cover the lives of my twin sisters, Dallas and Donna.

Dallas was born in Redlands, California in 1913 and passed away in Oregon City, Oregon in 1911 at the age of 98. She outlived Donna by two years. She lived to an older age than her parents and siblings. (probably even counting me, now 91) 

My earliest memory of Dallas was when she was a beautiful teenager. Her first husband was a man named Tom Cook. A good looking blond man. I can remember going with him and Dallas into his folk's house in Hollywood. He had a brother who was in the Our Gang comedies. I can remember being in an auditorium with Tom's Mother where some of Tom's siblings were trying out for parts in movies. I do not believe that the marriage lasted too long. Then Dallas lived at home again.

I remember Dallas going with Mark Johnson. He had a big fancy convertible. He would park it in the backyard when we lived on 3rd street. The house on 3rd was the last house that I remember much of the family living together in. Grandma Knowlton lived with us. She and Dallas shared the master bedroom. Dad, Keith, Warren, and I shared the upstairs bedroom. George was living with his sister Thelma in Taft. Four of my sisters no longer lived at home.

Dallas and Mark were married in 1937. Dallas worked all of her working career at the Pomona Tile Plant. Mark was a sheet metal man and had an independent sheet metal business. They lived in various apartments around Pomona. I would visit them often. One time when I was out of school for a severe case of poison oak I lived with them for a while. I remember being on a porch and listening to soap operas over the radio. Dallas would feed me. I remember loving her pancakes with Karo syrup. Later they had a son, Monte. 

Mark and Dallas had acres of woods and a cabin at Kennedy Meadows in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains.

It was great fun to visit the cabin. It was really a little house that Mark and Dallas lived in a lot of the year. To get there you drive north on 395 to around China Lake. Then turn east into the mountains at nine mile canyon. You go high. I remember military planes from Edwards Air Force Base flying lower than us. After nine miles you left the blacktop. Dirt road for 20 or so miles to the cabin. They had a real good stand of Pinyon Nut trees. Indians would buy their pine nuts and come pick them. I can remember being with Dallas under  a pinyon pine tree and picking nuts off the ground. Dallas made pine nut butter.

I remember being there with Thelma and her family in their RV. I remember going with my youngest son Mike and his buddy. We visited the Kennedy Meadows Pack Station. They had close to a hundred animals. I asked if they were named. The man said yes and that he knew everyone.

No electricity. If Dallas wanted to run a mixer she had to start the generator. She would make us evil skeevers. These are Scandinavian pancakes. The correct name is ebelskivers. They were delicious.

After Mark passed away Dallas moved to Oregon City. (near Portland and considered the end of the Oregon Trail) Her son Mark and family lived there. On our RVing travels Jackie and I would stop and visit.

Dallas was my last sibling to pass away. (2011) Donna had passed away two years before Dallas. That was a sad and lonely fact to me. All of my siblings gone. I miss them very much and think of them often.

Dallas was always so sweet and kind to me. I love her.

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Posted By Chuck Monson to PrunePicker at 9/10/2016 06:30:00 PM

First Home Volley Ball Game on Wednesday.

And I was there with my good friends Nolan and Margaret Coleman.

Real sports fans. The Techsters won three straight games in 1 1/4 hours, so we went home early. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff were just not tall enough or experienced enough to give us a good fight. Although they tried hard all the time.

A Day at the Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona, California.

One day around 1924 the above group picture was taken. My Mom and all eight of my siblings are in the picture. This is probably the only such picture that I have or have ever seen. The rest of the group are cousins and friends. My family is identified in the picture below.

The Glen Ivy Hot Springs Resort was and still is a nice place. I vaguely remember going there with the family. The thing that stayed in my memory was a swimming pool inside a building. I think that I was under five.

Notice that my three brothers are all barefoot. None are in a sailor suit. (see picture of the Knowlton family in  the post about memories of my Mom). The other people in the picture have shoes. The two older brothers are wearing coveralls. My five sisters are all neatly dressed in stylish attire.

This is the family that was present when I was born. A family of 13 (two parents and nine kids). Lots of people around the dinner table. Like I have said, Nita married and left home when I was six months old. Gradually everybody left. By the time I was 12 or 13 there was only Dad and I. Then Dad had a stroke and left. Not very many people around the dinner table.

PrunePicker Memories of my sister, Jean Butcher.

All of my sisters were Mothers to me, but Jean was the most. Jean was born in Redlands, California in 1912. She passed away in Pomona in 1977 at the age of 65. Too soon. I remember crying like a baby at her funeral. Her oldest son Daryl comforted me.

Jean was the third child born in the Monson Family. She was the first of four born in Redlands. Jean was the spark plug of the family. She was the replacement mother. She inherited this position as her two older sisters were involved with their families and were not living in Pomona. She also had a natural aptitude and ability for the position. I think that my siblings would agree with my assessment of her position in the family.

Jean was like a Mother to me. All of my sisters were like Mothers to me. She was there for her siblings and her Father when they needed her. I remember her driving her and I to the big hospital in Los Angeles in the days after Dad’s stroke. I can remember stopping at a roadside stand on the way home where she drank a Miller beer. I have always had a warm spot for Miller beer. I see a Miller beer and I think of that evening. It was a warm pleasant evening. She also drove us to the Rancho los Amigos in Downey when Dad was placed there. Sometimes we would stop by Knott's Berry Farm which was a small place out in the wilds of Buena Park. (Knotts grew a little bigger.)

The only memory I have of Jean’s first husband was he was driving Jean and I in a car. It was an open sedan and I was in the back seat and all bundled up in blankets because it was cold. I cannot remember the start or the end of the ride.

Jean’s second husband was Joseph Butcher but was always known as Butch. He was a good looking guy and she was a good looking woman. They made an impressive couple. They had two boys. They did a lot of looking out for me. Early in their marriage Butch had a job driving a bulk ice truck. He drove a large truck and delivered ice to commercial accounts. When the Japanese were impounded there was a temporary holding place at the LA County Fairgrounds, located on the edge of Pomona. Butch got a job as a guard. From there a he got a job on the Pomona Police Force. This was an ideal job for him and he had a long and distinguished career in the Pomona Police Dept. He ended up as second in command of the force. He told me he turned down the job of Police Chief several times as the job did not have job security. I can remember his retirement dinner. Hundreds of police officers were there and there was a telegram from President Nixon.

Jean was office manager at the Pomona Tile Plant. She was the right hand of the owner, Gus Johnson. She dealt with the contractors and saw that the orders were delivered on time. Many of Jean’s relatives worked at one time or another at the Plant, including me. I did not work there very long because I went into the Army when I was 17. My sister Dallas worked there all of her working life. When I was around ten I made many trips to the Plant office. I would call Jean on the phone and ask if she would give me a dime so I could go to the movie. She always said yes. I can remember the long walk out to the Plant. I would go in the office and stand at the counter and she would give me the money. Quite often she would give me an extra dime for candy. At the Thrifty Drug Store you could buy three nickel candy bars for a dime!

I can remember Jean taking me to buy shoes for school at the Orange Belt Emporium. This was the largest department store in Pomona and was located at the corner of Second and Gary. This was at the center of downtown Pomona. A pair of new shoes was big money. (4 or 5 bucks!) I went barefoot almost all summer. I liked going barefoot except when I stepped into some bull thorns.

When I came home from the Army and was united with Jackie, Jean and Butch drove us up to Big Bear and left us for a honeymoon. She knew someone who had a cabin there. I remember catching the bus back to Pomona.

Jean was a very important and vital part of my growing up years. I love her very much.

In the depths of the depression Jean and Butch built a new house. It was the pride of the whole family. It was in a nice neighborhood. The floor, walls and ceiling of the shower and the whole bathroom was covered with tile. They had a patio covered with tile. The kitchen had tile everywhere. Jean was a big believer in tile.

I can remember many happy family reunions at Jean’s house!

PrunePicker Memories of my sister, Thelma Lucetta Mott.

Thelma is the second child born to my parents.

You have seen these pictures. I have identified each sister on the pics. Thelma is in the same position in both picture. Here is a better picture of Thelma. Taken in 1987. With brother George and all of her sisters except Jean. Jean had passed away. Thelma is on the right end of the group.

Thelma was born in Long Beach, California in 1909. She passed away in Roseburg, Oregon in 2001 at the age of 92. The first part of her life was interesting. You remember what the Chinese say about an interesting life, huh?

At a early age (8 or 9) Thelma had seizures in the night with severe chills. Grandma Knowlton was a member of the Christian Science church. She took Thelma home for three years to try to heal her. She did. They say that Thelma left home a sickly skinny little girl. In three years she came home a beautiful young lady. With a mind of her own. At 15 she ran away and married a young man. She soon left him and came home. Where she gave birth to my nephew Donald 21 days after I was born. There I was an Uncle and did not know it.

Thelma had a lot of milk and would breast feed me when my Mom was at work. When I was told this I was a little shocked and embarrassed. Later I warmed up to the novelty and was kinda proud of it. You might say that Thelma and I were bonded. (I do not remember it)

Thelma soon married Marion Mott. (a great guy) They moved to Taft and Marion started a lifetime job with Standard Oil of California. Several summers after a visit to Pomona the Motts would take me home for an extended visit. I loved those summers. The Motts home was one of several homes in a Standard Oil camp. Pleasant homes with lawns in the middle of a sage brush covered desert with rows of wooden derricks pumping oil. It was an exciting place after Pomona. Years later I would work in those oilfields.

Donald was my age and eventually had two brothers and two sisters. The oil camp had a clubhouse with a swimming pool. Donald taught me how to swim. Thelma liked cokes. I tasted cold Coca Cola for the first time. So cold and crisp and a new taste. Over the years I have lost my taste for coke. We had Coke Floats! The ice cream was home made. I remember smashing ice held in a gunny sack with the side of an axe. Marion put a motor on the freezer. When the motor lugged down under load the ice cream was ready. Marion was so smart.

Later Marion transferred over the Valley to Weed Patch. (southeast of Bakersfield} The Motts lived in a stand alone company house. I remember a foot high dike all around the lawn. They watered by filling the diked area with water. Marion built a home made swamp cooler that helped in the heat.

I remember playing in the yard and over the radio hearing the people at the Republican convention yelling; WE WANT WILKIE, WE WANT WILKIE !

Don and I used to swim in the Kern River. A dangerous river also called the Killer Kern. 7 or 8 people drown in it every year. It looks so peaceful flowing out of Kern Canyon. But there is a strong current below the surface. Down the river there are rapids with huge boulders. Don and I got caught in the rapids and barely got out. I am sure that we came close to being a statistic! 

I arrived at the house one time and the boys took me to a weir in a nearby canal to go swimming. A weir is a restricted area in a canal used to measure the volume of water flowing. A pool would be created down stream of the weir. They dived in (I thought normally), I dived in and was scoured from head to foot in a bed of sand made up of sharp glass like particles. I was a bloody mess and a mass of scabs for some time.

One time I was at the Weed Patch house and had my bike with me. I decided to ride my bike home to Pomona. About 130 miles and over many mountains. Tejon Pass summitt is about 4200 feet. I pushed a lot going up, but rode like the wind going down. There is a five mile grade coming into Saugus. What a ride! Then skirted the San Fernando Valley and rode through Pasadena and on Foothill Road to Pomona. It took me 22 hours.

One time I helped Thelma make fruit cake. She mailed one to each of my brothers in the service. George in the Marines and Warren in the Navy. Later when I was on Guadalcanal in a casual camp I received a fruitcake from Thelma. It was so appreciated.

Early in the war the US Government planted many acres of guayule in the Lamont area. Guayule is a brushy shrub of the Aster family. It is native to the Southwest and northern Mexico. Latex rubber can be extracted from guayule. Don and I got jobs in the government surveying crews that were laying out the guayule fields. We were chain men. It was interesting work. The guayule project was stopped when the war ended.

Thelma was a jolly perky person. Nice to be around. I was around her a lot before the war. 

Thelma spent her last years with her daughter, Dorothy in Roseburg, Oregon. I can not imagine a more different place from Taft and Weedpatch.

Thelma was always a generous and thoughtful sister. She took me in many a summer. I love her.

Three sisters and three brothers to go!

A Picnic at the Lincoln Parish Park.

Rhonda was over last Thursday to vacuum and clean my trailer. After she was done we wanted to have lunch with Jewette Farley but Rhonda did not want to go to a restaurant. She had a dog in her car. So we decided to meet Farley at the park for picnic.

I had the table set with fried chicken, biscuits, cole saw, and mashed potatoes.

This is our view at the park. A lovely place.

My fellow picnickers. Jewette Farley and Rhonda Ray.

What is a picnic without a selfie?