The New Year

It's hard to realize at winter solstice that we won't be on PALM until summer solstice. But at least the days are getting longer and we are in the same calendar year as the next PALM. And, given the weather that we've had the last 2 weeks, we have nothing more to fear about winter: we can get more, but we can't get worse. The two things that wear on me in winter is the lack of daylight and the lack of color. Winter is a black and white movie. That's why I value cardinals and put out bird seed for them every day (even though the squirrels get most of it). Their red color seems like an act of rebellion.

I rode the First Dozen in Dearborn today. I was supposed to be the Ride Captain for the Ann Arbor bike club. There were about 125 bundled riders (but none from the Ann Arbor bike club: go figure). It's hard to believe how cold 26 degrees can be. I put on two sets of gloves and two pairs of wool socks but my hands and feet were still cold. My wife stayed home and she had a point. But it was good to see people biking: I know the pedestrians we passed appreciated us. They'll have stories to tell.

I was putting together some information on this year's sites for the website and I noticed that every place we stay this year has less than 3,000 people in it as of the 2000 census. Grant had 880 people in it in 2000. This might be a good year to consider buying the meals on PALM. Can you imagine 700 people looking for breakfast and dinner in a town of 880? Talk about locusts. Remember: to get on PALM you just have to pay the registration ($110 for riders 18 and older, $65 for riders 11 thru 17, and $55 for riders 10 and under). You have up to May 15 to add/change meals and bus rides.