It looked like radiator fluid

Pin It ...only with bubbles.

I remember hating all sodas except for Sprite or a root beer when I was growing up. Dr. Pepper made me want to vomit and Coke or Pepsi made my stomach turn. Maybe this was because what we usually had to drink was diet caffeine-free Coke. NOT a pleasant drink. I remember trying regular Pepsi at my cousins’ house once when I was growing up and I couldn’t take the sugary sweetness of the soda…it was just way too much.

I liked root beer.

I dated a girl for awhile when I went to the Y who got me swear off soda and only drink water. We were both runners at the time (not me anymore, though) and I found I had greater endurance when I was not drinking soda.

I came to love water.

Water bottles were in my car, my house, in my classroom, in my backpack. I craved icy-cold water and I will admit that I felt much better when I was drinking a lot of it.

I found a recipe. It was one I had while on a white-water rafting trip last summer. The base for the marinade was Mountain Dew.

The other day I had a craving for this barbecued delight and went out to buy some Mountain Dew. I felt like I was buying beer. I snuck it into my cart and put a few other items over it as I walked around the Springville Wal-Mart…just in case somebody I knew saw that I was buying it. Upon arriving home I used some of it, while the rest sat in my pantry. A few days later I had a screaming migraine and a friend of mine recommended drinking a Mountain Dew. “The caffeine will help knock out your headache.” He’d said.

It looked like radiator fluid, but that is not how it tasted. I remember pouring the contents into a glass with ice. The way it foamed up to the top of the glass with a quiet bubbly sound, the deep amberish-green color of the beverage which had a slight lemony-limeish taste. My friend was right, it did indeed knock out my headache like a heavyweight boxer in a death match. Oh, Mountain Dew, how wonderful you are.

I still have the case in my pantry which I do use occasionally, but only for medicinal purposes…

Mostly.