Sunday Houses

It began raining last night about 8 p.m., rained all night, and all day today. A good day for laundry and house cleaning. 

Walking back and forth from the laundry room (4 washers and 4 dryers) and passing the residence that is located behind the office and adjacent to the RV park, I was reminded of the special added attraction at this RV park. Chickens!

This is one of a number of roosters - they begin crowing at 4:45 a.m. and continue most of the day. One time-challenged rooster goes at it around 5:30 or 6 p.m. Since I lived on a chicken farm, I adapted easily.

A sign in the office offers fresh, park-chicken eggs - $2/dozen.

Since we were close enough, we went into Fredericksburg to go to church this evening.  St. Mary's Catholic Church was built in 1908 and is one of Texas' painted churches, the only one in

Fredericksburg. There are bold stained glass windows that somewhat overwhelm the delicate painting on the walls and the ceiling.

 From this picture it may be difficult to see the decorative painted flowers along the edges of the ceiling trim.

This is a medium-sized church and it was jammed-packed for the 5:30 p.m. Mass. There were perhaps 1,000 people in attendance and every seat was filled. There is another Mass at 7:30 p.m. this evening - in Spanish - as well as 3 more tomorrow. Most of the German settlers were Lutheran or Catholic.

Two noteworthy stained glass windows are over the alter and depict angels looking over a German boy and a German girl. Charming.

Right next door is the original church - Marienkirche - built in 1861. Much simpler and used for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament 24/7.

Stained glass windows in the Marienkirche.

Across the street from St. Mary's, and lining the street, are Fredericksburg's "Sunday Houses". Small second dwellings, they were maintained near a church as a weekend place of residence, popular in the late 1800's among farmers and ranchers who lived in areas too remote to permit commuting to services.

On Saturday, families would come into town for shopping and business. In the evening there would be dances or a party. The family then spent the night in the Sunday house and on Sunday attended church before returning home for the week. They were also used if the rancher was in town for business or for medical treatment. Some Sunday houses became the residences of retired ranchers when their land was turned over to their sons. They are almost exclusively confined to German settlers in the Hill Country, especially Fredericksburg.

They were small, usually having only two rooms. Some had 1 1/2 stories with a gabled roof to form an attic, often reached from an outside stairway, that served as the children's sleeping quarters.