There's just no getting around it; quince is like rhubarb in that you just can't eat it without sugar or honey. Regardless I'm working my way through what will eventually add up to a bushel of quince and this year I have enough to give some to friends. I just hope I'll have the sense to pass up anymore that I might see at the market tomorrow.

We talked to friends in San Francisco last night. They're understandably anxious about Tuesday's earthquake, the strongest since the '89 Loma Prieta quake and very possibly a precursor to another bigger quake. I don't mention it to them but I can't help but think how, when he took office, George W. Bush was given that list of three national emergencies for which the country was unprepared and how we've been hit by #1- a terrorist attack and #2- a category 5 hurricane, leaving only #3- a major earthquake in California and the chance to make it a hat trick.

I also talked to my cousin who's son lives in Atlanta where this week the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has proposed reducing the flow of water from Georgia rivers into Alabama and Florida in order to resolve the dispute over water use during the drought. I wish I could be more sympathetic but really, how can they build what's often referred to as the "Sprawl Capital of the World" and not expect to eventually come up short?