Autumn Quakes, Pumpkins, & the Honey Book Buzz

'Tis the time for autumn heaven. -- Cal Orey, The Writing Gourmet

It's the day after yesterday--the big red letter date when the world as we know it was supposed to end, according to Harold Camping's doomsday forecast. I created an anti-prediction on my website Earthquake Epicenter Forum that while the Earth could move with a noteworthy shaker near October 21 (and it did twice in the San Francisco Bay Area--the night before--and a 7.4 hit near Tonga on the day)--life would continue. And here I am with pumpkin on the brain.
Autumn Days in the Sierra. If you live at Lake Tahoe or visit during this time of off-season you'd feel fall. The autumn colors are gold, orange, red, and brown. Wood piles are seen in yards. But we're having an Indian Summer and the temps are warm during the day. (I swam yesterday and it was heavenly.) But looking ahead we're going to experience a cold spell (low in the teens) next week. So, my first fire is nearing.
Baking is on my mind. That includes pumpkin pie (I will wait till November), pumpkin scones, muffins, bread, and fudge--all included with sweet honey. There's something about pumpkin that is addictive. All this pumpkin chat is creating a craving for pumpkin seeds. Maybe I'll buy a pumpkin and make the seeds myself. Or not.
Computers and Rice.  After the computer fiasco last Friday evening (my Brittany duo dumped a water bottle on my laptop), tonight I am getting used to my new machine. And the drowned one? Well, maybe putting it in a bed of rice helped dried it out. I will know next week from the tech. It may have seen its last days and the world for the last time. The cranberry and rice pudding provided some comfort but the cost of purchasing a new computer when my casualty was not even a year old is heartbreaking.
The Healing Powers of Honey. And so here I sit thinking about my new book The Healing Powers of Honey (published by Kensington). It's making a buzz like a honey bee flying flower to flower. It's offered on FoodieBlogroll (a contest); I'll be a guest on San Francisco's KSFO come October 30; a piece about the vanishing honey bee in Oracle 20-20 magazine, November issue; Donna Seebo will interview me via her radio show on November 2; a book signing at Barnes and Noble in Reno will see me the day after Turkey Day; an excerpt about my visit to a beekeeper in the Tahoe Daily Tribune; And so it goes. Pumpkins and a honey bee book.  Did I mention I love fall despite its ups and downs?
UPDATE: I wrote this blog post before I got the news of the 7.2 Eastern Turkey earthquake. (I forecasted a major earthquake would happen in Turkey and/or Greece in 2011. It was printed in the January issue of Oracle 20-20 magazine , Earth Changes column--see older entries link on website.)  My heart goes out to all affected by Mother Nature's wrath.