Gettysburg National Cemetery

This is the third post in a series from the trip I took to Gettysburg with my friend, Adam, on New Year's Day.  The prologue and my favorite picture of that first sunrise of a new year is here. Pictures of Sach's Covered Bridge and the water it spans are here.

This was my first time to the Gettysburg National Cemetery. It surprised me to realize how many times I had driven by the cemetery itself and not gone in. There is still more to the cemetery that I haven't explored; just one more reason for my next return trip...

Markers like this one dot the landscape. They are so common, that if you live here you seldom stop to read what they have to say. It's such a simple marker...

It really bothered me that a sign like this is necessary here. This has a lot to do with why I try to pick times when the area isn't overrun by tourists.

The Gettysburg Address. A brilliant example of less is more when it comes to writing and word count. It is extremely brief and yet delivers so much in meaning and emotion.

This was the first time I had been here close to the holidays. I hadn't realized that  these beautiful, simple wreaths would be here. The bright colors just accentuate the sadness and the beauty of this place for me.

This sign really struck me. In part, because it is right next to these little markers that just have numbers on them. When I asked Adam what he thought the numbers were for he said, "Unknown soldiers". Which I suppose I should have been able to guess.  So, I had to walk to the end of the numbers...

979. Unknown.

Amidst all the sadness of this place, nature reminds me that there is also always life.

A female Hairy Woodpecker tapping away in search of a snack.