Spring-fed creeks. Old stone houses. Cedar brakes and bleached limestone. The Hill Country holds powerful sway over the imagination of Texans. So many of us dream of having our own little place in the limestone hills. The Hill Country feels just like home, even if you've never lived there.

This beautifully written book explores what the Hill Country has meant as a homeplace to the author, his family, and longtime residents of the area, as well as to newcomers. David Syring listens to the stories that his aunts, uncles, and cousins tell about life in the Hill Country and grapples with their meaning for his own search for a place to belong. He also collects short stories focused around Honey Creek Church to consider how places become containers for memory. And he draws upon several years of living in Fredericksburg to talk about the problems and opportunities created by heritage tourism and the development of the town as a "home" for German Americans. These interconnected stories illuminate what it means to belong to a place and why the Texas Hill Country has become the spiritual, if not actual, home of many people.

David Syring's family has lived in the Hill Country for 150 years. He has been a frequent visitor and occasional resident, working in a variety of jobs that gave him insight into the region's identity and economy. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from Rice University and currently lives in Winona, Minnesota, where he is a freelance writer and assistant professor at St. Mary's University.

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Dreams and Stories, Fragments and Memories
• Part 1: Speaking in Tongues, Telling Tales: Family Stories
• Part 2: Honey Creek Church: Chapter and Verse
• Part 3: Migrations toward Home: Fredericksburg, Texas
• Part 4: Closings: Beginning Again
• Bibliography