Lions, and Tigers, and Bears...

I'm guessing that each one of us, at some point in our lives, has to learn to face and overcome fears of our youth. I had one such encounter with my fears when I was about 11 years old.

My older brothers, Kevin and Kory, and I decided one fine summer day that we wanted to go camping up the river from our house. There weren't many houses along the river at this time. There were more on the north side than on the south side, which was where our house sat. That was due partly because we owned between 1/4 and 1/2 mile of frontage property along that side of the river. There was an area maybe 1/4 mile up river that was vacant land, and had a nice flat spot up the bank to camp on. It was definitely a different day and age, when you didn't need to seek out who owned the property and obtain permission to just camp. We never defaced the property, and always took (or burned) any trash we had.

Well, since we were going by boat on this campout, we figured we had better determine all the supplies we needed for one night. I don't believe we bothered to take a tent, because we loved sleeping out under the stars. That brings me to my one fear that plagued me all during my growing years - fear of the dark.

I don't know if it's because the darkness can hide all sorts of things that makes one fearful of it or what. In my belief system, I believe that Satan has power over the darkness. As evidence look at all the evil things that take place at night. People tend to become more decadent in the darkness. I mean, there's a whole different world that lurks in the darkness. So I think that is part of where my fear came from. To this day, I'm still not the most comfortable in the deep woods at night, but have at least arrived at the point where I can stand to be there and not tremble in fear. For me, I always conjured up images of bears, or badgers, or other mean animals seeking me out in the night. Any noise would get me wondering what was out there watching us, or waiting to tromp on us.

So, I knew that if I was with my brothers, and was sleeping between them it would be more like safety in numbers for me. I gathered up my things - which probably consisted of maybe a sweatshirt and a sleeping bag - and lit out with Kevin and Kory on our trek. We arrived at the campsite before dark, and set up what we needed to set up. Then we got a fire going. By this time it was getting dusk. I grabbed the hatchet and began chopping on a log - mostly to keep myself occupied. Suddenly, Kory decided he needed the hatchet to chop down a larger branch or something. I was kneeling near the log I was chopping on, and he just reached out to grab the hatchet as I was swinging it down. It veered from the log and hit me in the left knee with the sharpened edge. Needless to say I was devastated, not to mention that I also had a sizeable gash in my knee.

Kevin took pity on me, and helped me down to the boat and ran me home. We didn't have much to do with doctors in those days, so Mom was the doctor/nurse. She cleaned up the wound with water and peroxide (much to my displeasure and pain), then put two or three butterfly bandages on the wound and I was good as new. I was a bit sore and limping, but decided to go back out and finish the campout.

Things settled down between Kory and I, and after having marshmallows or hot dogs or something, we were just sitting on our logs around the fire enjoying the night. By this time it was plenty dark.

Suddenly, I began to hear rustling in the ferns and woods around us. I'm sure that Kevin and Kory knew I was afraid of the dark, so they began conjuring up stories about bears being around and watching us. Well, the hairs began standing up on the back of my neck, to be sure. Then I hear more rustling, and I was sure there was a bear or wolf just waiting to attack us. Heck, I may have even thought it could have been a werewolf. Then, I start hearing some growling sounds. Well, it just about did me in at that point, and I think I just froze where I was and couldn't even breathe!

Whoosh, "Roar", and out pops this figure in the dark from the bushes, and runs up upon us! I about nearly wet my pants, until in the light of the fire I could see it was Dad who had snuck his way up the river in a canoe . He had come to check up on us. I said, "Thanks, Dad!" facetiously. That pretty much did my nerves in for the night, and I had to go back home with him to sleep safe and soundly in my own bed.

I've often reflected back on that experience, and wondered if anyone really even knew the extent of my fear of the dark. I guess that's why I'm more self-reliant than most, because I just learned to overcome things like that on my own. It does make one stronger to go through such experiences.

Stilts and the Polecat

Ever wonder what makes children tick? I mean, we know they are human beings, and we know what generally motivates the natural man, but sometimes one can wonder what really motivates children to be as creative as they are.

Growing up in the boonies of Northern Wisconsin gave us plenty of time to be creative. I mean, even though I had 9 other siblings, we did not have other friends around much. So, we felt the need to figure out things that would help us get thrills and chills. One such activity that the older of us siblings used to like to do was to make our own stilts. I don't know why we thought we could do this, but we played around cutting down young poplar saplings, then stripping off the bark, nailing a couple of 2" X 4" wedges to them and figuring out how to walk on them.

Of course, like anything, we were not very good at it immediately, but it did not take long to figure the things out and walk around on the short ones. We would use the picnic table as our platform to start off from. The foot rests were usually at that height. We would cut the spars long enough to fit into our arms to support them as we walked. I always wondered how stilt walkers in circuses and parades were able to walk around without that type of support for their stilts. Later on, I saw their type of stilts - ones that went up the calf and were supported by a strap around the top of the calf. Once I tried them they were actually quite easy to manipulate.

Well, never satisfied with just the usual routine things, we always had to take things to the limit. We wanted EXTREME thrills! So, we sort of broke up into teams to see who could make the tallest stilts to walk on. I think Kevin and Kory got the most bold on this effort. They made a pair of stilts that were at least eight feet tall for the foot rests! These things were monstrous and heavy, so only the older siblings were able to even attempt them. The good thing was that they were so large at the bottom that they helped the person steady his/herself.

For these tall stilts, we had to use the garage roof to start off from. Kevin and Kory got to using them pretty well. I don't much recall if I ever mastered them. I do recall walking on taller stilts, but don't recall if they were these giant ones. We spent countless hours playing with our stilts. The thrills we got from going taller and taller were eventually satisfying for us.

On one particular nice summer evening, we had been out walking around on our stilts. It was getting towards dusk. The cool evening air began rolling in, and the sky was quite clear. The moon was nearly full, and we could see quite plainly without the aid of any artificial light - albeit not as plainly as during the daylight. The back yard extended east from the house towards an expansive field. we mowed the yard a ways into the field, then the tall grass jutted out. We always had all sorts of critters roaming about the place since we were out in the woods. We even saw a bear from time to time. Of course, stray cats would often wander near the place. We usually had a cat or two of our own roaming the place. We never really believed in having to tie our animals up. Since there was so much room to roam, they knew where home was.

On this particular evening, Kory had been walking around on some stilts when out towards the field, just beyond the sand pit we used for a sandbox, Kevin spotted a cat. It just sat there looking at us. He walked up to the animal wanting to pet it. When he got close, the cat rolled a bit and suddenly Kevin saw the white stripe going down its back. He knew in an instant he was completely mistaken about what the animal was. He flew from there like a rocket ship! I think it startled the skunk as much as it startled Kevin! We had the most uproarious laugh from that experience. I think Kevin learned to always check and see what he was approaching from that time on. We never let him forget how he almost became a skunk perfume bag that night - how he so wanted to be kind to his polecat pet!

Humble Beginnings

In this modern day of technology, fast-paced lifestyles, and never-ending schedules, many people long for the laidback life of the country along a lazy river. It just so happens that more than 50 years ago, my parents were able to provide just that for their soon to be brood of 10 children.

Somewhere around 1955 or 1956 my parents moved into a large house along the Wisconsin River just a few miles west of Eagle River, WI. It had once been a sort of bunk house for the workers of Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, because it was built right across the road from a power dam that had served as the main power source for the entire area in the early 1900's. My mother affectionally named it "Branham's Damsite". The house was of adequate size for a growing family, but what made the place a goldmine was that it had nearly 21 acres of land running along the river on the high side of the dam. What that meant was that you could start by boat from our place and be linked to a chain of 28 lakes which dotted the landscape all around the area. The land also bordered on hundreds of acres of County land that we had free access to. It would have been a virtual Eden for most people. There was ample fishing, hunting, trapping, tree climbing, trail riding, and so much more just from our place.

Our neighbors across the street, the Gough's, were friendly. My oldest brothers were friends with their boys. Somewhere in the mid '60's the Public Service Corporation bought them out of their land. They decided to move their house just about 1/2 mile up the road along State Highway 70. However, the dam was in the way of moving the house the short way, so they had to go about 3 miles around the other way to get the house onto the property where it now stands. With our nearest neighbors, the Glembin's, about 1/4 mile away we had loads of room to roam.

This blog is going to serve as the catalyst to recount the exploits of my brothers, sisters and I as we grew up in that little slice of heaven. Since we were so isolated from town and everywhere else we had to use our imaginations to wile away our time when we weren't going to school, studying, playing sports, etc. We found numerous ways to be creative - sometimes funny, sometimes dangerous, but almost always fun (to us, anyway).

Here is a brief introduction to the cast of characters:
Arnold H. Branham - Dad, a product of the Northwoods of Wisconsin as well. 6' tall, slender build, a mostly serious and religious man with a dry sense of humor.
LaRae M. Branham - Mom, born and raised in Park City, UT. A petite woman - about 5' 2" and 98 lbs soaking wet. She had a zest for life and health, was sometimes on the neurotic side, but was always the ultimate hostess.
Kevin R. Branham - Eldest brother, always full of ideas, somewhat eccentric, but way intelligent. He would always come up with ideas that challenged us to think.
Korin (Kory) A. Branham - Second oldest, an adventurer and all-around jock. He was one of the most popular people in school. He is also highly intelligent, having been selected Salutatorian behind younger sister, Angé.
Angé (pronounced Angie) Branham Workman - Oldest sister. Since she was the only girl amongst 6 brothers she had to fend for herself. She held her own in the roughest of circumstances. She is highly athletic, and loves the outdoors. She is also highly intelligent, graduating from High School a year early, and being selected Valedictorian at that!
Kerry I. Branham - Me, myself, and I. I was always the tag-along. My older brothers and sister were always doing things that I was too little for, but I always wanted to tag along. They were my heros, and I truly looked up to them. I sort of had a chip on my shoulder for much of my early life, which caused me to feel more of a black sheep in the family. I have always been adventuresome - mainly because my older siblings were.
Kurt C. Branham - Fifth sibling - a middle child. Kurt was always into hunting, fishing, trapping, and the outdoor arena. He didn't focus as much on academics. He could tell you anything about guns. He also loved motorcycles.
Kirby L. Branham - The other middle child. He had deep red, curly hair, and hated it all while growing up. He's the tallest of the clan, and was always into guns, hunting, fishing, trapping, motorcycles along with Kurt. Kirby is another intelligent, but humble soul - he's a thinker. He always tries to do what was just and right.
Karson M. Branham - Youngest boy. I think that sometimes comes as a curse, because you are oftentimes too young to do things with your older brothers. Karson is a mechanical minded person. He learned to fix cars, motorcycles, guns, airplanes, etc. He loved shooting with his two older brothers.
Amber Branham Anderson - The tallest of the sisters. Amber is a sweet, sensitive soul. She took things very personal, and thus was not necessarily always happy with her childhood. Her three next older brothers (and sometimes myself) would tease her and her younger sisters to no end. She always loved babies, and never wanted to disappoint our Heavenly Father. She is also very musically inclined.
Apryll Branham Walker - The redhead sister - well more redhead than the others. Apryll was always very happy and popular while growing up. I hate to admit it, but she seemed to be the favorite of my younger sisters. I always cut her more slack than the others. She used to make me laugh a lot. She has a lot of musical talent.
Aurora Branham Brandaris - The blond sister. What can I say about the baby of the family. We spoiled Aurora (at least I think we did), because she was always a cute child. She has a bubbly personality, and loves children. She is also very musically talented. She was only about 16 or 17 when Mom passed away. I'm sure that was difficult on her.

Through it all, my siblings and I have all grown to have a deep love for the Savior, and for following God's plan for us on this earth. We will be ever so grateful that our parents raised us in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.