More Frankenstein for You

Here are a few more pictures from the Frankenstein fall festival, which was Sunday.

I felt they ought to be in a separate post because they don't have a lot to do with the festival, per se; plus that previous post was getting a little long, it seemed.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the church's exterior, and then some photos of the church's cemetery.






On the cemetery, the boneyard, the bury-patch, the marble orchard: Yeah, we have fun and go to the festivals and enjoy watching the kiddies do the bean-bag toss. We pig out on the excellent home-baked chow. But we also like to walk through the old cemeteries.




There are some very old graves in the Frankenstein cemetery. A large number of tombstones are written in German. I'm sure many of the individuals buried here were the founders of the community.




I have to say that the old custom of having a cemetery in the churchyard must go far in helping people keep everything . . . in "perspective." I think our society likes to pretend that death doesn't happen; graves are locked away from us in special plots of ground, segregated from our daily lives, so that we don't have to be reminded of death often, unless we whoosh past it while driving (which is desensitizing), or if we choose to visit it.

But the people who put these stones here wanted us to see them. Us! . . . Yes, us. The people from the future.




But when the cemetery is right there each time you go to church--right in the center of town, right next to the playground, right there in the background of the fall festival, the summer picnics, the wedding receptions and baptisms, some of the most significant moments of our lives--it helps remind us of mortality, of history, of ancestry. It's not necessarily a downer.

And it adds a silent--yet distinctly present--voice to the chorus of sensations all around us.

Frankenstein Fall Supper

Man, oh, man, is this a great time of year to live in mid-Missouri. We're right in the thick of fall festival time, just like autumn itself is officially here, with cooler temperatures and trees that are coloring up.

Today, I'll be a woman-of-few-words and simply post some pictures from yesterday's jaunt to Frankenstein, where the nice people of Our Lady of Help Parish had their annual fall supper.

The menu was homemade country sausage (which is really, really good--not greasy, and fairly mild; very meaty), turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans spiked with a bunch of black pepper, homemade coleslaw (the vinegar kind, very light, just the way I like it), applesauce, and--the soul food for us German-types--sauerkraut, in this case, augmented with white beans.




And then there's the bread basket, butter, and jelly, and last, but not least, your choice of dessert.




I seee-lected a nice piece of peeeee-cawn pie. Sue and Bonnie both picked up pieces of blackberry pie. Ooh-la-la. All this food is fit for a king, and we gotta eat it!

After eating, we didn't spend too much time looking around at the country store, the bake sale, the beer garden, and such, but we did linger each time the kiddie train passed by. Those kids enjoy it so much, it's a pleasure just to watch them.




The church in Frankenstein is lovely, and we did linger for a while in its sanctuary, appreciating the old wooden pews and the lovely ornamentation, including peaceful statuary, beautiful stained glass, and excellent decorative wall paintings.




If I were to decorate a church, I think I'd make it look something like this. Or at least, I'd want it to feel like this.








Finally, finally, finally, if this post has encouraged you at all, get out your calendar: Next Sunday is Linn (St. George Parish). Sunday, Oct. 11 is Bonnots Mill (St. Louis Parish).

Here's a flyer for proof: