Alabama, One Big Front Porch

"Many of Alabama's finest stories used to begin with a reference to 'the night the stars fell,' and even now there is an inclination among some residents to divide local history into two segments: before the stars fell and after the stars fell. That would make November 13, 1833, the dividing line. "Thousands of Alabamians, thinking the end of the world was at hand when they saw the heavenly spectacle, fell to their knees to plead for mercy and forgiveness. Others promised eternal renunciation of sin (card playing, dancing, whiskey drinking, cursing, and associated vices) if they were spared whatever catastrophes were in the offing. Still others jumped upon horses and tried to outrace the fearful menace they believed was pursuing them.

"That night, the night the stars fell, may have branded Alabama as a strange land, her people forever set apart by a horoscope of enchantment and turmoil. Some historians, sociologists, romanticists, astrologists, and conjure women say so. Maybe it did. It was quite a night." "Storytelling spots aren't all on front porches: they're any place where storytellers gather. But the best stories are a family's very own tales, stories whose humor and pathos provide nostalgic links with kinfolk who were here awhile ago."