Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Image from JourneyProudAlabama.com Have you been watching Journey Proud on Alabama Public Television?  If not, you can go  here  to see episodes you have missed. It airs on selected Sunday evenings; you can find a schedule  here . Journey Proud is a documentary series highlighting the people, customs, and traditions of Alabama.  There are episodes on decoration days, shaped-note singing, fishing, juke joints--you get the idea.  If you were raised in Alabama, you are bound to recognize some of your family's traditions, and possibly, some of your family. The host of Journey Proud is Joey Brackner, shown here with Hub at the Labor Day festival at Coon Dog Cemetery.  I met Joey more than a decade ago when he was teaching at an Alabama Folklife Community Scholars program.  He is the Director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, and is the perfect host for Journey Proud. Joey, his producer and crew were at the festi...

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 ...