Faith, Folklore, and Friends

I met Howard Massey at the Coon Dog Cemetery festival on Labor Day.  Mr. Massey lives on Alabama Highway 24 between Red Bay and Russellville, and he is an interesting fellow. Mr. Massey has the ability to tell how many sons and daughters you have by swinging a large needle and string over your wrist area.  When I met him, he was trying this out on a friend, and he was fairly accurate. I held out my arm for him to tell me about my children.  After a while, he told me I had two sons and two daughters.  I had to tell him I only had two sons, and unless there is a miracle from God, there won't be any more.  He asked me about grandchildren; I have two granddaughters.  He said it worked for grandchildren, too. I wondered if his parents or grandparents had this gift.  He didn't think it was a gift at all; it was just something he could do.  This is just minor to what he can really do: determine the sex of a body buried in an unmark...

The weather was almost perfect; just a little bit hot, but no rain like last year. There were several redbone puppies for sale.  They seems bored with all of us. There were lots of folks sitting around, visiting, and listening to some good music.  We were so glad to see our friend, Jake Landers, playing with the Southern Strangers. The Kerry Gilbert band was wonderful, as usual. There was an amazing number of fine hats.  These unique hats are only seen on very special days. There was also an amazing number of politicians, totally expected with an election coming up in November. The couple sitting beside us bought one of the puppies, and named it Blaze.  Blaze is just a few weeks old, but that baby knows how to howl. Barbecue plates for lunch.  Hub had to stand in line a long time to get one for us. There was a buck dancing contest.  People were crowded around the stage and it was hard to ...