I got lost on my way home from Gettysburg. In the
distance, for miles,
I could see the new clouds reaching up for the sky and I knew what was
at the end of the rainbow. Finally, at a traffic light, the cooling towers
loomed up from behind a hill.
Looking from the High Water Mark across Pickett's
Charge after the rain.
My
Gettysburg Travel Diary from 1998
" ... we cannot dedicate, we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.
The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far
above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never forget
what they did here."
I'd always wanted to walk the length of
Pickett's Charge to the High Water Mark. It takes 25 minutes.
I still can't imagine what it's like when people are shooting at you. A
courage I can't know.
The parking lot.