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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #110
May 17, 2002
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Dear Subscriber:

Readers may remember my account of Tom, Dick and Harry...the
three stray cats we adopted last year.

We captured them, had them spayed (Dick and Harry) and neutered
(Tom) and fixed them a place under the woodshed. The idea is
they would be fed and they in return would keep the area free
of mice.

Dick disappeared shortly after they arrived, never to be seen
again. Tom and Harry, on the other hand, have thrived and are
living up to their end of the bargain...catching mice regularly.

There have been some problems.

Our 4 dogs don't care much for the competition. It's a real
trick keeping the dogs separated from the cats.

It's a carefully orchestrated plan. The dogs are fed in the
afternoon and sleep in the house at night...a long standing
tradition. In the morning Peggy opens a can of cat food for
Tom and Harry's breakfast. The dogs are finely tuned to the
sound of that top coming off the can and they make themselves
available to Peggy for any assistance she may need in the
kitchen preparing the cats' breakfast. Each dog gets a little
taste of the cat food as payment for their assistance and
Tipper (the border collie) gets the can.

After the cat feeding the dogs go out the back door into the
fenced yard. Their day is a mixture of lounging and playing
"whose got the cat can?" (Tipper tires of it soon after going
outside.) Then the cats are allowed in the front door and
they go to their favorite chairs for a day-long nap.

Peggy was proud of the way the whole thing was orchestrated.
She was happy. The cats were happy and the dogs were happy.

Then the cats over-stepped their privileges. They killed a
hummingbird.

Peggy takes care of her hummingbirds like a grandmother. Woe
be it that one of the dozen feeders around the house goes empty.
From the first appearance of the little guys in the spring until
the last one leaves southward in the fall, there's always a
place of respite and refuge at the Vanlandingham house.

Peggy was not happy and Tom and Harry knew it. She found the
little feathers on the porch. I told her it must have been a
sick bird because a healthy one would be too fast to be caught
by a comparatively cumbersome cat, but she would have none of
the explanation. The cats had stepped down a notch in her eyes.
They were unceremoniously kicked off the chairs and they had to
take their naps under the bed.

Things are better today. Peg is at least talking to Tom and
Harry again. I came in the house a few minutes ago to prepare
this week's newsletter and Tom and Harry were in their usual
chairs taking their daily naps.

They got their usual breakfast this morning and the dogs got
their usual nibbles...

...and the hummingbird population...short one member...is much
wiser.

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. VILLAGE NEWS
3. INSIDE THE SHOP -- SILVER SPRINGS RV CAMP
4. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- NM DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION
5. Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
6. COMING EVENTS
7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
8. CONTACT INFORMATION
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LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
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A fall-like chill in the air most of the week this week. Highs
in the mid-60s. Lows in the low-to-mid-30s. Mostly cooperative
winds.

While the Midwest is being soaked, the Southern Rockies remain
dry. Forest restrictions remain in place.
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VILLAGE NEWS
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Mayfair is the first event of the Cloudcroft summer tourist
season.

The 26th annual Mayfair will be May 25th and 26th featuring an
arts fair in Zenith Park. A melodrama will be staged on the 24th
in the open air pavilion.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- SILVER SPRINGS RV CAMP
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Bring your RV and spend some time in the enchanting Sacramento
Mountains! Beautiful setting with trout pond below. Family
atmosphere, full hookups, 38 spaces. We offer a club house with
fully equipped kitchen, pot luck each Thursday night and
Christmas-in-July on the third Thursday of July! Open April 1st
through October 30. For reservations and information, email
RVGoFish@aol.com, call (505) 682-1148, or see the link to our
Web Site on the Cloudcroft.com RV/Camping page:

http://www.cloudcroft.com/camping.htm

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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- NM DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION
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The New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department's
primary responsibility is to plan, build, and maintain a
statewide transportation network which will serve the social and
economic interest of our citizens in a productive, cost-
effective, innovative manner.

http://www.nmshtd.state.nm.us/

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - Sometimes when I try and download pictures in your news-
letter or on Cloudcroft.com (as well as other sites), I get a
read-out that indicates an interruption of the download. Is it
just me or are others having the same problem?

A - It's a pretty common occurrence for dialup modems. It
happens to me every once in a while. I just hold down the
Shift key and click on the Refresh button on the top toolbar
and then I go for the pictures again. (Holding down Shift
forces the browser to reload the page completely.) That
usually works.
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COMING EVENTS
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May 15-31 -- Cloudcroft Art Society Annual Miniature Art Show.
At Cloudcroft Gallery & Gifts in the Burro Street Exchange.

May 18, 19 -- High Altitude Classic Mountain Bike Race.

May 18 -- NMSU-A Community Choir. Flickenger Center,
Alamogordo. 7:30.

May 18 -- 26th annual Saturday in the Park. Alamogordo.

May 24-26 -- Cloudcroft Light Opera Company Melodrama.
Zenith Park Pavilion, 7:30 pm.
For information call (505) 682-3317

May 25 -- Melodrama. Timberon Little Theatre. The
Timberon Lodge Annex. 7pm.

May 25 -- Academy of Ballet. Flickenger Center.
Alamogordo. 7:30.

May 25-26 -- Mayfair. Juried Arts and Crafts Show.
Zenith Park, 10am to 5pm. Horseshoe Tournament, Food, Drinks.
For information call (505) 682-2733.

May 25, 26 -- Full Moon Nights. White Sands.

May 25 -- Street Dance, 7-11pm. Music by Country Line.

May 25-27 -- Wimsatt Rodeo. Gordon Wimsatt Memorial Arena,
7 miles east of Cloudcroft on Hwy 82. 1:30pm daily.

May 31 -- Melodrama. 7pm. Open air pavilion.

June 1 -- National Trails Day. 10K walk.
For information call (505) 682-3040.

June 1 -- Lake Lucero Tour. White Sands. Reservations
required. Call (505) 479-6124.

June 7, 8 -- Miss New Mexico Scholarship Pageant. Flickenger
Center. Alamogordo.

June 9 -- Big Band swing. Alamogordo Ballroom. 2-5pm.

June 9 -- Father's Day brunch. Call 682-2566 for details.

June 14-16 -- Western Roundup. Parade, pie auction, BBQ.
Street dance Saturday 7-11pm.

June 15-16 -- Cherry Festival. High Rolls. Arts, food.

June 28-30 -- Bluegrass Festival. Music all day.
Open Air Pavilion, Camp Chimney Springs.

July 6 -- July 4th weekend celebration. Zenith Park

July 12-13 -- Melodrama. Covered Pavilion.

July 13-14 -- July Jamboree.

July 13 -- Flower Show at the Community Center, l-5pm.

July 14 -- Street Dance. Burro Avenue.

July 27 -- Train Load of Talent. Covered Pavilion.

July 27 -- Chili Cook-off. Ski Cloudcroft.

Cloudcroft Art Society meets the second Sunday of each month,
2-4pm, in the Old Red Brick School House. Call (505) 682-2494
for more information. (Note day of the month change.)

Mountain Garden Club meets every third Monday of each month.
Call (505) 682-2910 for more information.

Senior Van from Timberon to Alamogordo leaves the Timberon
Lodge promptly at 8:30am every Tuesday morning.

Free Vitals Clinic. Second Saturday of each month, 11am to 1pm.
James Canyon Fire Department, 2346 Highway 82.

If you have news of public events in the Cloudcroft area, email
us.

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For an online calendar of area events, click the Events Calendar
link in the left column of our home page:

http://www.cloudcroft.com/index.html

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Dear Newsletter:

I agree with you 1,000 percent. Our forest fighters (men &
women, whether it's on land or in the air) do not get the
credit they deserve.

It's time we had a National Forest Fighters holiday as they
have paid a high price trying to save our wilderness lands and
our homes/towns nearby.

Wayne Cave 

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Dear Newsletter:

I am glad that the fire has been put out. However, I am
concerned about another disaster that may happen now. Since
most of the ground shrubs and foliage has been burned up, when
the rains do come, the chances of mud slides are going to be
very great since there is not much left to hold on to the top 
soil.

The people's cabins that were saved could now be in danger by
the mud slides when the rains come. I just wanted to let you
about this danger and to let everyone else know about it, and
to take additional precautions on preventing them.

Chris Sufall

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Dear Newsletter:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

As Cloudcroft homeowners, it was wonderful to be able to follow
coverage of the Penasco Forest Fire. It provided us the best
news report in the Nation.

Thanks again,
Larry and Nelda Perry

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Dear Newsletter:

My grandmother has owned a cabin in Twin Forks since 1966. I
have loved many summer visits and a few cold winter ones. Now
that my kids are learning to love "going to the cabin", it is
great to find your site to keep us informed.

My husband works for the US Forest Service and is on the
Southwest Area Incident Command Team that is still in Mayhill
managing the Penasco Fire. It has been great to read the updates
and see the pictures. Until he gets home, that is all we have
of him.

He goes to many fires each year, yet this is the only one we
have found local information being shared. Thanks for a great
job!

Cindy Davis Thornhill,
Lakeside, Arizona
Formerly of Menard, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

Thank you for keeping us up on this fire.

We have a cabin in CC thus we have a vested interest, but more
than that, we love the people and the area. It is scary.

Fran Gregg
San Angelo

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Dear Newsletter:

Thanks so much for keeping us up to date on the many aspects of
the fire. The Cloudcroft.com website and your newsletter have
really been superb at passing along the key information to
those of us not able to live with all of you in the mountains
just yet.

Many prayers were answered in the minimal loss of life.

Tom

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Dear Newsletter:

My wife and I have been reading your newsletter for several
months now and always look forward to reading it each week. We
are part time residents of the Cloudcroft area.

Our place is in Robinhood and when we heard about the fire we
began reading your daily reports. They were great. Our permanent
home is in Brownwood, Texas and we were really worried that
the fire might take our place out there. We also heard that
KOBTV was covering the fire as well. We read both yours and
KOBTV each day but we liked yours the best and you stayed with
it 'till it was completely contained.

Thanks very much for a job well done and keep up the good work.

We are looking forward to coming to our place this summer, and
would love to meet you sometime, maybe at Ray's Cafe for coffee.

Thanks again,
Harold and Sue White

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Dear Newsletter:

I'm a new subscriber - but not a new reader! Friends have been
e-mailing your newsletter to me for several months now. It's
well worth becoming a subscriber for real, guys!

I'm impressed with your coverage of the Penasco fire...it's
informative, timely and humorous...even tho the subject is
anything BUT humorous! I live in Alto...just "up the road"
from the Kokopelli fire(s). I know all about evacuation, thanks
to the Cree fire and now the Kokopelli fires. It's difficult to
describe your feelings when you watch trees exploding into
flames near everything you own in the world! A shift in the
wind grabs your attention instantly. I've been lucky...and
prepared, hopefully.

Thanks for your good work and your good publication!

Barbara Karcher
Alto, NM

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Dear Newsletter:

You guys are really busy with forest fires. I hope you get some
rain soon.

We have had tornadoes here. Sunday night one hit the little town
of Happy, Texas. It wiped that little town out. We're under
the gun again tonight.

Thank you again for the newsletter.

Shirley Myers
Amarillo, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

You may be interested to know that a story I wrote for
Astronomy magazine about Cloudcroft astronomy appears in the
June 2002 issue. It may be available at a newsstand in
Alamagordo.

You might imagine that I am particularly happy that the NM
Skies guest observatory was spared of damage from the Penasco
fire.

Tom Polakis

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