October PALM Meeting

This month's PALM meeting is when we pick tshirt colors and next year's patch. We did pick out a patch (there were several good entries this year) but we put off picking the tshirt color until next meeting when we can see some samples. It looks like it will be another bright color. We got a treasurer's report: we didn't lose money this year, in fact we are a little ahead. This means that the registration, meal, and bus fees will stay the same. Registration will be $110 for riders 18 and over, $65 for riders 11 thru 17, $55 for riders 10 and under, and $75 for nonriders. Meals will be $5 for breakfast and $9 for dinner. (You pick the meals you want, if any.) A bus ride to the start will be $45.

I was late for the meeting: who knew that I-96 was going to be closed at I-275? I ended up going along 8 Mile until Milford Road and I-96. Then Mt Hope Road was closed when I got to Lansing. I was an hour late and missed all the good stuff. If it wasn't for the meeting minutes I would not have known anything. I did get there in time for a (long) discussion of campers on PALM. More on this later.

Lately I've been cold all the time. I thought that I was getting weak, but it ends up that October for the last two weeks or so has been 10 to 15 degrees below the seasonal average. I was worried that I could no longer appreciate Indian Summer. But no, it was nature's way of telling me that Eskimos are also Indians. At least the greens (kale, collards and swiss chard) in my garden are holding up. Everything else is dead and on the compost heap: tomatoes, marigolds, basil. I left the cone flowers standing: the finches eat the thistles from their flowers. It drives my cats crazy but it keeps another species going and reminds me of summer when the flowers were in bloom.