D-Day

Eisenhower.

Maj. Richard Winters, R.I.P.

Maj. Richard Winters, US Army

Jan 1, 1918 - Jan 2, 2011

Thank you, sir.

Is there a doctor in the house?

I don't normally don't bother with soft drinks, mainly because I hate the thought of all that high fructose corn syrup.  But this Dr. Pepper is made with real Imperial Sugar and it tastes delicious.  (There's no indication on the packaging that this is part of the "Heritage" or "Throwback" movement in soda pop sweetening.)  I'm pretty sure this was bottled in Temple or Abilene, TX rather than the more famous Dublin, TX bottling plant but either way it's pretty hard to find in my neck of the woods.  I ran across this six at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma last weekend and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was the best Dr. Pepper I have ever tasted.  I enjoyed it at 10, 2, and 4.

Read: David McCullough

Photo by William B. McCullough

Pulitzer Prizes aren't like Nobel Peace Prizes.  They don't give them out to just anybody.  David McCullough has two under his belt.  He's the best thing that ever happened to the Historic Narrative genre and some of his books would fall under the "required reading for every American" category were I in charge.

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing him speak at the Nashville Public Library.  It was a fantastic lecture.  Afterward, I shook his hand and told him how thankful I was for his books. He was a warm and genuine fellow.

If you want to learn about America from the master historian of our time, pick a book (they're all excellent) and dig in.