The Life and Times of Johnny Branch

By One of Johnny’s Closest Friends

This nostalgic, humorous memoir is of a Mississippi country boy who was a little rapscallion growing up in a much simpler time. It is one in which a field of sage was a bed for dreaming; a spunky little dog was a best, best friend; and three very close buddies were rascals. Imagining and exploring, they lived their lives with their worst fear being a stern word from a disciplinary parent.

The self-sufficient young fellows story draws us back to the less complicated days a time ago, the fifties and sixties.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781546218098

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© 2017 BY One of Johnny’s Closest Friends. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/21/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5462-1808-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-1809-8 (e)

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

(DEDICATION)

Throughout one’s life people come and go-some remembered, some not. Some make a mark on you, most don’t. Your family is and should be the most important thing in your life…especially your children and grandchildren. Mine certainly are that to me, and they know it. As a matter of fact, the book is written for them.

This book however is dedicated to the person who had the most positive impact on my life, and made the whole mad journey worthwhile. My dear sweet wife, Jo, who has put up with me and heard these stories so many many times and occasionally had to put up with Johnny as well.

Jo, the Apple of My Eye

The love of my life.

I love you.

RR/JB

CONTENTS

Johnny Arrives

Johnny Goes Country

School Bells

New Road

Airplane Fever

School Moves On

Grandparents

Eight Feet Under the Sea

Dam It

No Way

3,2,1, Blast Off

Holy Cow…

Blow Gun

Gil Ablaze

Johnny on a Hot Tin Roof

Hey, Hay

Watch Out, Nut!

Pays to be Short

The Crow’s Nest

Sounds in the Night

Grass Allergies

T K O

Tales of Ghosts

Johnny’s Shadow

Pranked

Defender of Evil

The Great Bike Ride

Hornets

Mr. Johnson

Swim, Boy, Swim

Hut 1, Hut 2

Busted, Part 2

Cliff Climbers

Golf Ball

Little Brown Men

Railroad Iron

1940 Chevy

No-Way’s Ark

Dust Devil

Thunder and Lightning

Watch That Hole

Washers

He’s Too Young for That

Just Like I Said

Dreamland

The Blue Cut

H2O

100 Feet Up

Zip-Bang

Swoosh!

Snake!!!

Eject – Eject

Swing Low, Stay Low

Chill Out

Zing

Bad Decision

Winn Dixie TKO

Uncle Sid

Quick Trip Home

Jump

Eunice Goes to California

Indians

New Wheels

Cousin Randy

Yum-Yum

Mr. Chestnut

Special Shoes

The Three Musketeers Last Hurrah

Ah, Life!

The Big Send-Off

Pass it On

JOHNNY ARRIVES

Johnny was just a normal kid born in a normal and much simpler time. Right away, he realized there was much more to life than eating and sleeping. His first hint of a bump in the road was his parents’ decision to have him circumcised… not fun at all! On this day, February 10, 1947, the roller coaster ride began!

Of course as any adult knows, the time when you are very young is hard to remember. Johnny’s main concerns at that time were: 1) When would his sore penis stop hurting? And 2) Would all the people passing him around and making faces at him, drop him on the hard floor below? His mothers’ and fathers’ families all lived nearby, so there was never a shortage of faces staring at him.

Time went by, as time does, and before he knew it Johnny was trying to learn to move from Point A to Point B on his own. Later after hearing his grandmother and mother talking, he realized this difficult task was called crawling. So crawling it was, and after many months of trying, Johnny had almost figured it out. Then the bad news came in the form of listening to folks talk about when he would learn to walk. Holy Cow!

Lesson one was what was walking and how hard could it possibly be? Life looked as if it was going to be really difficult. Also he couldn’t figure out why he was so small and everyone else so large. Lesson two was that people are hard to please and, by the way, who were all these people looking at Johnny and making all those demands?

Walking came soon after and Johnny was able to see the world (or at least the room next door). He was now off and running. Well no, running was another challenge and much more difficult than either the crawl or the walk.

By now, Johnny was almost four years old and moving about the house like everyone else. That was when one day, his father came home from work and the family was at the supper table (a term used in the South for being seated around the table for the nighttime meal). This was a wonderful tradition for family members to share what happened to them during each one’s day. A tradition that enabled family member’s to stay in touch with one another. A tradition lost.

In his excitement of seeing his father, Johnny reached across the table and turned over the coffee pot and burned his arm. That little move resulted in a three-day stay in the hospital and another lesson to learn on the roller coaster track. He also got a large scar on his arm that lasted for many years to come.

Enough of Johnny the baby or toddler, and on to Johnny the boy. Johnny was now five years old and finding out he and his family were moving (whatever moving was) and the move would be to the country. That’s when the adventure truly began!

JOHNNY GOES COUNTRY

As Meridian, Mississippi faded away in the rear window of the family car, the country life loomed ahead, and the move was made. The family began to settle in the new house, each in his own way. The house was an old one that needed a lot of work and was not fancy compared to any house today. At the time that they moved in, there was no running water, nor indoor bathroom.

Johnny’s father was a physically strong man, He was strong-willed and hard-working, a true provider in every sense of the word. He was also a very demanding man as Johnny was to find out, many times in the future. Johnny’s mother like his father, was a hard-working, strong-willed woman. She was a kind and generous woman, but also very, very demanding. Both parents were born and raised during the Depression Years from, what would be considered today, poor families.

Then there was Larry, Johnny’s only brother, a nine-year-old at the time of the move. He was one of those people who wanted to do what he wanted, when he wanted. Most times he had his head in a book. He preferred that five-year-old Johnny stay away and leave him alone at all times.

Johnny now had a whole large house, a barn, and several out-buildings to explore. Also there was a well, a truly creepy place! His dad cautioned Johnny, at least three times every day, to stay away from the well.

Since Johnny was only five years old, he lived in fear of the outhouse. There were spiders and insects, and the possibility of a small body falling through the hole in the seat! Yikes! They lived there only a few months before Johnny’s dad installed a bathroom and had a deep well drilled. Best of all, though, he had all of twenty acres of woods in which to play. This was real country, dirt road and all.

Shortly after the move, Johnny, Larry, and Mother went to the Methodist Church and met the locals. One of those people was another young man, five years of age, named Gil. This little fellow would be by Johnny’s side for years to come.

Now Gil’s family lived about two miles away from the Branch’s house down another dirt road. For two 5-year-olds, that was like living in another state. At the time, Johnny had no idea how many good times and adventures he and Gil would share over the next thirteen years. Gil was to loom large in Johnny’s life, as well as Barry, another 5-year-old who also lived nearby. The three would do everything together for many years ahead.

After learning the ins and outs of his new surroundings, Johnny was now facing the most difficult coming event since learning to walk. Yes, you guessed it, his first day of school!

SCHOOL BELLS

First of all, Johnny could not believe how early a school boy had to get up to go to school. He was also surprised that a boy had to dress up and go wait by the road to be picked up by a stranger. Johnny thought a boy had to avoid strangers at all cost.

Anyway after being picked up, Johnny realized he was not that fond of the school bus. After riding over ten miles on the bus, (Johnny lived one mile from the school but was the first picked up and had to ride the entire route) Johnny’s opinion of the way school was operated was not a positive one.

Johnny’s first day of school was like a whirling dervish, with him not believing there could be so many six-year-olds in the whole world. Now the hard part, who in the hell was this woman sitting in front of the children? Later Johnny found out that she was Mrs. Gibson, a wonderful woman, who he would think about for many years in the future with a fond thought and a slight smile. Johnny was used to people telling him what