Another Day for Distractions

     Last month, on my way to Green Lake for a writers’ reunion, as usual, I didn’t take the shortest route. I knew I wanted to drive through Waupaca; I’d run across something online which I wanted to see there. Of course, I got distracted first.

 I wanted to turn to the east, but a sign announcing something like “The Grand Army Home” pointed west, so I had to follow it. I drove past the place and had to turn around in the cemetery. Imagine that! Me driving into a cemetery? 

 The Central Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in King, the state’s first veterans’ cemetery, opened in June of 1888 with the burial of a Civil War veteran. More than 6,669 veterans and their dependents have been buried in the cemetery since on its 63 acres.

 Something about veterans’ cemeteries makes them so much more somber. 

 They make me feel too reverent to wonder among the white headstones.

 Across the highway, though, within the domain of the Wisconsin Veterans Home, 

 I discovered “The Grand Army Home”. 

 And so much more, such as memorials,    

 The Veterans Home Chapel, built in 1890,    

 And The Commandant’s Residence Home built in 1888. 

 Just past that is Rainbow Lake, one of the lakes on Waupaca’s Chain of Lakes, where the local waterskiing team was practicing the day I was there. 

 But I couldn’t tarry for too long. I headed back into Waupaca for my initial quest. When I got there, this youngster was blocking my path. 

 There it is finally..

 The Waupaca Covered Bridge, built in 1976, spanning the Waupaca River. 

 Then guess what I found? Well, you'll have to wait until next time.