Kudos

For the second time our friend, Pat Beckerdite, has made The Washington Times/Inside the Beltway column...

From the mountains to the prairies, readers of Inside the Beltway this Fourth of July write about their experiences while paying homage to the monuments, memorials and museums in the nation's capital.

Patrick Beckerdite, a property manager in Des Moines, Iowa, writes: "My wife and I lived in Harrisonburg, Va., for eight years in the 1990s, and we became tour guides for friends and relatives who visited from the Midwest. We took many tours of the White House — during the day, candlelit on December evenings, and those tours when they opened the grounds to the public twice a year.

"We got to know the U.S. Capitol ... and loved to dine on Senate bean soup. The Archives, the Smithsonian, Old Town, Arlington Cemetery ... all the monuments became our 'haunts.' There are two things we haven't done yet: eat at the Old Ebbitt Grill and tour the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, so we are going to have to come back soon.

"Thanks for the nice reminder of our wonderful years near Washington, which remains one of our most favorite cities to this day. You are fortunate to be able to call it home. Happy Fourth of July."

Kongratuliere mein freund and the scientific community is united in that fact.