Dear Haribo,

I am writing to tell you how much I appreciate your Gummi Bears. Yours are really the best tasting; they are, believe me, I’ve tried them all, especially your lemon ones, because cheaper brands’ lemons have that really weird and somewhat disgusting Pledge Furniture Polish after taste and Haribos just taste like good old lemon candies. So yes, yours win the prize for the best flavor.

But this is not about the yellow ones, this is actually more about the odd clearish whiteish ones. Pineapple?  Who knows, but they are actually not my favorites although I will eat them, usually in a handful with some other colors.

I went running in the backcountry of Canyonlands National Park yesterday and half way through a long hot journey, my toenail started to fall off.  I got to the top of a pass and sat on a rock in the rain wondering how I was possibly going to make the last 4 miles downhill with my nail flapping around.

Typical of me, I didn’t have a knife, clippers or first aid kit. I dug through my pack and found a Clif bar, my map and my quick-sugar fix, Gummi Bears. I thought about tearing the hem off of my rain jacket and wrapping it around my toe to hold the nail in place but since it was raining, that didn’t seem like the smartest option and then I had a brainstorm…

I wrapped the end of my toe in a gummy bear – a clear one, my least favorite.  It would not only hold the nail in place but it gave me some padding so the nail wasn’t jamming into the end of my shoe on the downhill return.

Tucked it right into the end of my sock.  Yes I did.

An hour later I was back at my truck, marveling at my own genius.

I didn’t eat that one.

So thank you.  Not only are your Gummi Bears extremely tasty but in a pinch, they make a great substitute for duct tape.

You devotee,

Suzanne