Happiness Brownies

I love my sister.  For Christmas, she gave me a piece of paper that said she would do “something” to help me prepare for the Trail.  So, I went to her house the other day with my little alcohol stove and 1 liter aluminum pot, and she gave me “happiness on the trail”, aka just-add-water-brownie-mix.  Once she saw how that worked, her little mind was a-whirrin’ on other recipes for biscuits and peanut butter cookies.

She taught me that I can bake on the Trail.  Little piece of tin foil spattered with a little olive oil, put in aluminum pot over less than an ounce of denatured alcohol set on fire, and a few minutes later, TA-DA!  1 trail-made brownie.  Or what we are calling Happiness on the Trail. 

Everything I carry weighs something, so I’m hesitant to take anything more than I absolutely need.  However, sometimes it’s worth the weight to have something that will make the trip more enjoyable.  Happiness brownie and biscuit mix will be one of those things.  I’ll have to carry extra fuel (denatured alcohol) and the mixes themselves.  But here is what it will give me…

Every time I make a Happiness Brownie, I will be reminded of the good time my sister and I had figuring that out.  It will remind me that my sister is supporting me in this crazy endeavor in a way that ONLY she can.  She bakes.  She likes to make people feel at home.  She’s using both of her loves to make ME, her sister,  feel a little more at home on the Trail. 

Every time I make a Happiness Brownie, I get to share that memory with anyone else on the trail with me.  They get to taste my sister’s hospitality from over 1000 miles away.  I get to create community and home and comfort on the Trail for someone else.  And I get to create yet another memory with a newfound friend that I get to tuck away in my brain next to the day I spent with my sister and bro-in-law shopping for dry mix ingredients and eating a fabulous meal at their home.

I must admit, I was tempted at first to simply have her give me money toward a pair of hiking boots, or something else ever-so practical, uncreative, and simply financial.  Ewwww.  I’m ashamed to say I had that thought now that I’ve written it out loud.  Please forgive me.

Sure, I may have a little less in my checkbook at the end of this because I didn’t have her pay for my hiking boots.  But what have I gained by her gift?  So much more so than I could ever describe or put worth on.  I have memories, stories, knowledge, and comfort.  I have the assurance that no matter how transient my life is, there is something akin to home. 

And without that experiential knowledge of home for myself, how could I have ever created a comfortable oasis for someone else?  I’ve learned and grown because my sister and I bake a couple of brownies.  Thanks sis!

P.S. I found this artwork, and I thought it appropo.  Thanks to the artist, John Szymkowicz (hopefully you don't mind me posting a link to your website).