PrunePicker

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Little Old Lady From Pasadena.

I have found her! She is alive and well and living in Ruston. Louisiana. She is Margaret Shadow.

Margaret was born in Pasadena, California in 1914. She moved to Ruston around 1930. She is still the little old lady from Pasadena. I was so happy to meet her when I started going to the Senior Center. She and I are fellow prune pickers! She had lived in Santa Monica for awhile. She is really a very nice person and a sharp bridge player. Margaret drives herself to lunch in her red Camry. Very good for a 99 year old.

I was thrilled to be at her 99th Birthday Party yesterday at the Senior Center.

Following are various pictures I took of the party.

Lots of friends and loving family. Happy Birthday, Margaret.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Vital Signs

It seems that my blood pressure is tending to increase.

Date	Weight	Waist	Temp	BP Hi	BP Lo	Pulse	Miles	MPD
1/1/2013	241.6	50.7	96.9	137	65	78	6.5	1.0
1/8/2013	243.6	50.8	96.3	128	61	64	6.8	1.0
1/15/2013	244.4	50.7	96.5	126	59	67	11.0	1.6
1/22/2013	245.2	51.1	96.6	127	60	70	8.8	1.3
1/29/2013	244.6	50.5	97.1	147	67	69	9.5	1.4
2/5/2013	244.2	50.6	97.0	146	69	70	11.0	1.6
2/12/2013	244.8	51.3	97.0	135	63	64	11.5	1.6
2/19/2013	245.4	51.1	95.4	140	66	74	8.7	1.2
2/26/2013	243.9	50.9	97.2	136	66	69	9.2	1.3
3/5/2013	244.7	51.5	97.8	144	64	76	9.7	1.4

Swallow interview and the vagus nerve.

I had a discussion about my swallowing problem with the VA in Shreveport yesterday. We reviewed the results from my swallow test of last week which indicated disruptive spasms in my esophagus. It was thought that another dilation of my esophagus might help. I had dilations in 2011 and 2012 that did not seem to help. An esophageal manometry test might tell us something. In this test an instrument is run through your nose to directly measure muscle action in the esophagus. I was cool to both suggestions. We decided to observe my swallowing for four months. I have their phone number if we think we should do something sooner.

I asked "why would swallowing difficulty cause me to pass out?"

It seemed obvious to the VA. It was pointed out to me that the vagus nerve is one of the longest and biggest nerves in the body and runs from the brain down the back of the esophagus to organs in the belly. The vagus nerve is responsible for breathing, swallowing, keeping the larynx open for breathing, slowing heart beat, and monitoring and initiating digestive processes, among other things. It is right on the esophagus so it is easy to see how a swallowing spasm might cause you to pass out.

The root of the word vagus is the word for wanderer. The vagus nerve wanders all over. Hence the name vagus. There is a left and a right vagus nerve. Anyhow I hope that my swallowing does not ever again cause the vagus nerve to black me out!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Missing Jackie

On March 17 it will be six years since my wife Jackie passed away. We were married on June 3, 1944. This June will be our 69th anniversary. She is in my thoughts everyday. I miss her. We have been together for a long time.

Jackie used to help me hunt deer.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

18 straight wins!

The Louisiana Tech mens basketball team won their last home game last night. I think that I was at every game. They won every home game and they have won their last 18 games straight. They have won 26 games overall and only have lost 3 games. It has been fun watching them get better and better as the season went on.

The Dawg was on the ball.

Right ear was in his place.

We only could find one tuba.

Michael White before his coat came off.

I do not know why these fans were so glum. We were ahead.

After the game the players and the fans got together. Mutual admiration society.

Good win. 88 to 61.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Jonquil Jubilee in Gibsland.

It isn't every day that I get to go to a Jubilee. I went to one today in Gibsland. I saw some daffodils and a dog run house 166 years old. People are living in it.

It was a bright cold day.

Annual Wild Game Dinner.

John and I went to the 15th Annual Sportsman Dinner at Cook Baptist last night. We have been several times and really enjoy it. Tickets courtesy of John Roebuck (vice president of the Jefferson Corner Liars Club). Thank you Roebuck.

The meal specializes in wild game dishes. I had deer sphagetti. It was great. The entertainment was a learned discussion on turkey calling. I learned a lot. Look out turkeys!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Dawgs win 25th game!

The Latech Dawgs have only lost three games this season. They have won every home game. One more home game on Saturday night. We were expecting a tough game last night against Utah but it was an easy win for such a good team. The Dawgs are really good!

Three tubs. Small band as school is out.

Nice family of fans.

We won the toss and were never behind the whole game.

The Mascot Dawg hard at work.

Utah had seven suits.

When the opposing team is shooting free throws this most loyal fan tries to distract them.

Michael Whits and Tech suits.

Big win. 84 to 61.

The team and fans mix it up after the game.

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.