The first step is admitting you have a problem

Last week I came to the conclusion that perhaps I was getting a little too much sodium in my diet and thought maybe I would benefit, physically, from a week or so off of pickles...a pickle detox, a sodium flush was in order.

I made it about 20 minutes.

So I've decided that before I try to detox again, I should keep a pickle log of just exactly how many pickles I eat in a week. I want to more closely examine my pickle intake and really be aware of how many I eat before I decide if I can really go cold turkey on pickles.

I have to admit that my pickle intake this coming week, beginning Sunday, will be a bit more conservative than it was last week, when I polished off a 64 oz jar of Wickles on TOP of my normal steady pickle diet...

I've been known to keep charts and logs before, but I promise this one will be more suitable for mixed company..or the 10 people who read this.

Ok, one week left before the agony of prohibition.

National Security

Gee, it's October already and I realized I hadn't even finished with my summer pickle travel tales yet...but don't worry, it won't take long. In August I went to Pittsburgh to check out its local attractions-Iron City Beer, french fries on salads and The Warhol Museum. I also drove about 90 miles south of Pittsburgh to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright house, Falling Water and along the way passed several other "attractions"...like Jellystone National Park, complete with a giant Yogi Bear,putt-putt golf and a "zoo" of "exotic" animals, and several Amish and country "shoppes" with lots of jellies, candies and whatnot. Oh yeah, and PICKLES.

Since I would be flying back the very next day and I was traveling with only a carry- on bag, I couldn't go nuts and "stock up" like I wanted to, so I bought one small jar of spicy, sweet pickles, hoping they would satisfy my crack-like addiction to Wickles Pickles. I did see jars of homemade Amish dill pickles and trust me, it was a heartbreaking experience to pass them up but I was restricted to what I could eat overnight.



I picked up a brand that I'm pretty sure I've seen in regular "shoppes" like Wal-Mart but whatever, these were DL Jardines Texas Pickles. I was driving so I cracked them open and put them between my legs and hit the road back to Pittsburgh. They were ok, no Wickles by a longshot. I wished I had seen the Amish Dills before I had already purchased these...sigh...

Lessons learned: There is no substitute for Wickles and always travel with a suitcase for shipping back pickles.

After returning the rental car (with a big pickle juice stain on the seat-from the JAR-not ME!) I walked into the airport knowing I was about to do the unthinkable-I had to leave the pickles behind.

A guy can board a plane with a monkey under his hat but I can't carry on a jar of pickles. Where did everything go so wrong?