Yesterday, August 2nd, was the anniversary of the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence. I'm currently reading The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauff.
Chronologically, it's the first available book of the Oxford History of the United States series. Started in the 1950s, it was intended to be a comprehensive history of the United States for a general audience. Three of the books have won Pulitzers and two have been finalists. Each covers roughly a 30 year span. All of them are really long. We'll see how far I make it.
I realized reading this that the colonial era comprises one of the largest chunks of our nation's history. The time span from the founding of Jamestown to the battle of Lexington and Concord is about as long as Lexington and Concord to the end of World War II. About 170 years. Full of crazy stuff they just glossed over in school. For instance, did you know that New England alone saw 8 wars and 1 rebellion between the mid 1600s and the mid 1700s? Georgia was a penal colony: Britain colonized Australia because they lost Georgia in the American Revolution. The more I read about America before 1790, the more bizarre and exotic it seems.
Also, thanks to Benedict Arnold's actions at Saratoga, Horatio Gates' army defeated the British under Burgoyne. The victory at Saratoga convinced the French to declare war on the British, which more or less sealed America's fate. So, before defecting to the British, Benedict Arnold won the war for the Americans.
Run for Raley
I ran the 6th annual Run for Raley 5k in Philo. Proceeds are donated to researching Mitochondrial Disease, a disease in which your body is unable to convert food into energy. The charity run was started by the Kirbys in memory of their daughter.
My Before and After:
I ran the Freedom 5k in Champaign in 29:30. I finished the Raley 5k at 26:00.
Now I'm just tired and hungry.
Another Weird Pizza
Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza garnished with chopped cilantro. This combined two of our favorite things to eat. Indian food and Pizza.
You can find the recipe at Rasa Malaysia.
Coming Soon
Sweet Corn Festival 2013
Maybe Hard Cheese
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