Sidewalk in the Sky is about a family in West Virginia during the 50's, 60's and the psychedelic 70's into the Age of Aquarius. After their uncle is shot and killed and the coal miners go on strike the newly-elected mayor shuts down their nightclub. Mariah has a vision of Jesus and informs the family, but Sarah thinks she's touched and belongs in the lunatic asylum. Mariah and her grandfather walk past the tall wrought-iron fence of the asylum on the way to the market as the mournful moans of its inhabitants penetrate the stone walls into an otherwise blissful day in the country.