The Psychological Power of Pie

Hiking is among those things that I think I should like. After all, I'm outdoorsy, as in I like to drink on the porch. (Stole that from a greeting card). So several months ago when I saw a Groupon for $15 for two hikes with Terramar Adventures, I decided this was my chance to give the hiking thing a shot. I waited until it was about to expire (you can tell how psyched I was to use it), and then booked a "Hike & Pie" with my friend Susan. Yesterday was our six-mile adventure in the Delaware Water Gap.

I learned several things on my hike:

• Having a 2nd degree black belt doesn't mean crap when it comes to hiking (unless someone would have needed me to break through a piece of wood)
• I'm not nearly in the physical condition I thought I was
• I'm not afraid of snakes, even timber rattlesnakes
• Having your period while hiking especially sucks (TMI guys?)
• Every group has to have one annoying person in it
• I think all frogs are cute
• Hiking in a downpour isn't as bad as you would think if you're already soaked with sweat
• You should always bring a change of clothes in case of said downpour
• Either my bandana or my hair color bleeds in the rain (I ended up with some Native American looking black stripes down the side of my face)
• Everything is tolerable when there's pie at the end

After we concluded our hike, we drove about 1/4 of a mile into the little town of Water Gap for pie. And let me tell you, this wasn't just any pie. This was the best damn pie I've ever tasted. Think you don't like pie? You've never had this pie. We sampled three of more than a dozen kinds available:

1. Fruits of the Forest pie
2. Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream pie
3. Warm Apple pie

The warm apple pie was to die for, and that got me thinking. What if everything depressing, negative, or difficult ended with pie? (Kind of like the way you can tolerate childbirth because at the end you get a cute baby as a reward.) Imagine this:

• Pop quiz in school. Ugh. But hey, when you're done, there's pie!
• Significant other breaks up with you. Bummer. But he/she brought pie!
• Laid off from work. Pink slip plus pie!
• Black belt test made you vomit? Here's pie!
• You need a root canal. But the insurance pays for pie! 
• You've just moved up a dress size? Bet you have more room in your jeans, skirt, pants, etc. for pie!

The possibilities for pie are limitless. Who knows, perhaps world peace is just a piece away!

I'll I can say for certain is that the next time I have an opportunity to go hiking, I'll ask myself one simple question:  (wait for it...)



Will there be pie?