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Walk with a Doc Newsletter

Good morning.

I feel like you and I are close enough, I’ll say it.

This is the hardest week of the year for me.

Despite Starbucks moving The Season of Fall up closer and closer every year, we still have 4 long days until the Pumpkin Spices are released.

The struggle is real.

It’s my Pamplona, only this San Fermin is filled with bulls named Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Clove. Which, when placed in the correct combination, appear to be able to control our minds.

Don’t get me wrong, I do my best at the end of October. My wife allows me to convert the larger part of our carport into a Pumpkin Spice warehouse, doing anything I can to hold on to ‘autumn in a cup’. Despite massive stockpiling, by mid/late May I’m grasping at straws.

While there are 96 hours and counting until the release, it goes much deeper than that. Marie Kondo talks about sparking joy, and since 2003, the year I found happiness as I know it today, Pumpkin Spice Lattes (PSLs) have been an unadulterated joy.

PSLs have served as a gateway drug, and now, some would say, I’m all in.

Editor’s note: What follows will disturb many readers.

It starts the night before with the *spraying of the bedsheets and pillowcases (this quickly escalated to separate bedrooms but every passion has a price). *Says it’s for food, but works great on silk. I’d be lying if I told you I never licked the pillow (throughout the night), you know what I’m saying, Clark?

Before I forget, Thank You 2019.

Thank you 2019 for all the places you let me weave Pumpkin Spice into my life.

I make my way into the bathroom to brush my teeth, shower and deodorize.

Oh, how my patients must love the fall season.

Then, I head downstairs to where the fun is really just starting.

While Krissy and Charlie, my 17 year old, choke down their Quaker Oats, I’m lucky there’s no cover charge, because this breakfast is a party and a half.

Pancakes, syrup, and sausage before I head to Starbucks for The Boss.

Krissy is covering her nose and mouth as I leave, but I am able to make out, “Honey, your patients are soooo lucky”.

Charlie is laughing because he knows how right she is.

I grab some snacks from the carport and it’s a glorious drive to Starbucks and the hospital.

Ahhhh, Fall.

I can hardly keep it together until I get to each lunch, Pumpkin Spice Ham and Cheese, thank you very much, along with some Pringles – yep, those are all real products.

Let that soak in for a second, they make Pumpkin Spice Pringles.

I spend the rest of the afternoon bathing in the aura of this Pumpkin Spice wonderland.

However, until now, until 2019, I was missing one thing, one important thing.

The ability to sit down for a quiet Sunday dinner in October with my loved ones and recount the weekend’s events over some canned meat. I could just never quite incorporate Pumpkin Spice,

Then comes along 2019 and BAM thank you, Hormel, my life is complete. – ds

Editor’s note: We made David initial this as we want to leave open the possibility that not all of our Walk Champions share his passion for The Spice.

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Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Rachael, Bryan, Gina, Jessica and David (subject line – get it? :))