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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #132
October 18, 2002
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Dear Subscriber:

When I was in Jr. High, there was this kid that knew things.
Worthless things. He was a walking trivia machine.

We would be sitting in the school cafeteria and he would say,
"Hey! did you guys know....?" and everyone would pick up their
trays and relocate.

Somewhere along the line that kid rubbed off on me. I learned
to appreciate those that mastered the art of useless facts.

I had a hard time with entry-level algebra, but I knew what pro
football team had a logo on only one side of their helmet (the
Pittsburgh Steelers) and what town was located in the geographic
center of the United States (Lebanon, Kansas).

Imagine my excitement when Peggy brought home the 2002 New York
Times Almanac...the bible of all trividiots.

Irritate your friends with these facts. If you have a life, the
scroll button is to the right of your screen.

The year the world population reached 1 billion---1804. Earth
reached 6 billion humans in 1999.

The most populated city in the world---Tokyo, Japan. 26.4
million people.

The tallest building(s) in the world (even before the World
Trade Towers came down)--- The Petronis Towers in Malaysia.
Two of them, each of them 1,483 feet high. The World Trade
Towers were 1,368 feet high.

I'm boring myself. Let's go to sports.

Who has won the most NCAA college football national
championships? --- The college football national championship
was determined by sportswriters beginning in 1936. The
national champion has been determined by computer selection
leading to a bowl game playoff since 1998. The most
national championships won by one team since 1936...Oklahoma
and Notre Dame, each with 7.

Who has won the most Superbowls? --- The Dallas Cowboys have
played in 8 Superbowls and have won 5 of them (but what have
they done for us lately?). The Denver Broncos have played in
6 Superbowls and have won 2.

Ho Hum. How about TV trivia?

The most watched single television show. --- The Last
episode of M*A*S*H. February 28, 1983.

The "Who Shot J.R.?" episode of "Dallas" (November 21, 1980)
is #2.

(Note: These are network shows. The Apollo 11 moon landing
in 1969 and the funeral of John Fitzgerald Kennedy were seen by
a larger percentage of viewers.)

The number of colors in a small box of Crayolas....

Where did everybody go?

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. SPECIAL -- HALLOWEEN PICTURE
3. VILLAGE NEWS
4. INSIDE THE SHOP -- CLOUDCROFT WEB HOSTING
5. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- SNOW STATS
6. Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
7. COMING EVENTS
8. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
9. CONTACT INFORMATION
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LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
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Our first week of freezing weather. Overnight temps this past
Sunday reached (unofficially) 32 degrees. The next day it
reached 61. It's confusing when you're dressing in the morning.

This time of year, if you don't like the weather in Cloudcroft,
wait a few minutes.

Highs in the 60s. Lows close to 30.
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SPECIAL -- HALLOWEEN PICTURE
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Dear Newsletter:

Look what happens in the TX hill country when you're not
watchful of where you're going.... Poor girl... thank goodness
for the telephone pole or she would have flown right through
our house....

http://www.cloudcroft.com/photos/witch.jpg

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Gay Lynn Chism
Cedar Hill Guest Quarters
Wimberley, TX
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VILLAGE NEWS
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The annual Cloudcroft Chamber of Commerce Banquet will be held
on November 23rd in The Lodge Pavilion.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- CLOUDCROFT WEB HOSTING
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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- SNOW STATS
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It won't be long before the flakes start falling. You might
want to bookmark this site for future reference.

http://www.snowstats.com/

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - When do the Cloudcroft golf courses close for the winter?

A - Both The Lodge and Ponderosa Pines usually stay open as
long as weather cooperates. Desert Lakes golf course in
Alamogordo (17 miles from Cloudcroft) stays open year-round.
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COMING EVENTS
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October 19 -- Cloudcroft Bears at home against Capitan
(football)

October 19 -- Cloudcroft at Lordsburg (girl's high school
volleyball).

October 19, 20 -- High Rolls Apple Festival. High Rolls, NM.
For more information, call (505) 682-1151.

October 22 -- Cloudcroft at home against Tularosa (girl's
high school volleyball).

October 24 -- Cloudcroft at home against Capitan (girl's high
school volleyball).

October 26 -- Cloudcroft Bears at home against Mescalero
(football).

October 26 -- Harvestfest. Pumpkin carving, hay rides.

October 26 -- Zoo BOO for grades 1 thru 5. Alameda Park Zoo
in Alamogordo. 1-4pm.

October 26 -- Lake Lucero tour. White Sands National
Monument. 9am.

October 31 -- Trick or Treat. Costume contest. Burro Avenue.
5-7pm.

November 1 -- Cloudcroft Bears at Hagerman (football).

November 2-3 -- 14th Annual Antique and Collectable Show.
Civic Center. Alamogordo.

November 9-10 -- Christmas Craft Show. Civic Center.
Alamogordo.

November 23 -- Santa Town at Zenith Park. 5pm-7pm.

November 23 -- Cloudcroft Chamber of Commerce annual banquet.
Lodge Pavilion.

November 24 - Community Thanksgiving Service, First Baptist
Church. 7pm. Everyone is welcome.

December 7 -- Santa Town at Zenith Park.

December 14 -- Santa Town at Zenith Park.

December 15 -- Community Christmas Cantata, 4pm. at Cloudcroft
United Methodist Church

December 21 -- Santa Town at Zenith Park.

December 24 - Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 7pm. at Cloudcroft
United Methodist Church

December 31 -- New Year's Eve torch light parade at Ski
Cloudcroft.

Cloudcroft Art Society meets the second Sunday of each month,
2-4pm, in the Old Red Brick School House. The Society will be
having an Art Sale and Show Oct. 26 (10am-5pm) and Oct. 26 (11am-5pm)
at the Old Red Brick School House. Call (505) 682-2494 for more
information.

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. Third Tuesday of each month starting at 6pm
and last Thursday of each month starting at 12 noon. 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:

Your correspondent Helen Sills asks why the men who work in the
woods wear red suspenders.

To keep their trousers up, of course!

Best regards,
Peter Chase
Alpine, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

I enjoy your newsletters very much. The bear visits are lots of
fun, after all, they are in your yard! 5 years we have been here
(Hwy 82 between markers 28 & 29 and if you get to the Laxy Day
Cabins, you just passed us).

The reason for this message is that my family was Burnt Orange
to the core, that is, until Dick Maegle played for Rice, and I
saw him run a ball a long way for a TD. I was about 15 at the
time and suffering from a slight case of puppy-love. Kept a
scrapbook of newspaper clippings for a while, then I moved on.

Keep up the good work, winter evenings require smiling while on
the computer and your paper helps with that.

Sue Morris

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Dear Newsletter:

Hey, Don, glad to hear you're a Red Raider fan too! Our daughter
is a freshman at Texas Tech and absolutely loves it. She calls
it "home" and thinks she'll spend next summer there instead of
coming back here to Arlington. Wasn't that a fabulous win
against Texas A&M last weekend?

Luci Kumpunen
Arlington, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

Another wonderful editorial...thanks. Well, Don, there's always
basketball season. Ever wonder what a Longhorn looks like with
a folding chair wrapped around those horns? 

Jim Ground
Irvine, CA (via Carlsbad)
Go Cavemen!

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Dear Newsletter:

Hi Don! Dan Folz from Wheaton, IL. I sure do like it down there.
I'm really getting tired of the "rat race" here in Illinois! I
still have a decade before I can retire but... trying to
convince the wife to move to the Southwest may take some major
effort.

She hates Scorpions. One of my best friends recently moved to
Alamogordo. He described a "large scorpion" in his "old" new 
house. If my wife heard that she would go nuts.

Can you or the locals tell me if scorpions are seen at
Cloudcroft's elevation? If so, how often, if not can they still
survive in the mountains?

Best regards from "West Nile" mosquito capital of the US.

Dan

[Scorpions (the big, ugly kind) are found mainly in the arid
desert areas. Cloudcroft is far from that.

Alamogordo is considered arid desert and I've heard tell of a
few scorpions there, but I haven't heard of anything like an
infestation and no one I know of has been seriously injured by
one.

We have little bitty scorpions here. I call them "dirt 
scorpions" because you find them when you turn over rocks. 
They're about the size of a dime and again, I don't know of
anyone that has been hurt by one. I've never found one in my
house. I think they prefer dirt over carpet.

People worry too much about the critters that inhabit an area.
Just think, we could live in Washington D.C. where the
scorpions weigh up to 200 pounds and wear three piece suits
and are attracted by bright lights and TV cameras.

Don]

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Dear Newsletter:

At least you DIDN'T say anything bad (or good, for that matter)
about the BEST team in Texas....the ATM Aggies (that's Texas 
A & M!)

Carole Arnold
El Paso, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

I enjoy reading your newsletter and always had a sneaky
suspicion that the smarter of the two of you was Peggy. Now I
know why.

We purchased property in Cloudcroft and hope to retire there
someday. I am a UT grad, a former Lubbock resident (for two
years), a lover of Cloudcroft (and your newsletter), and a UT
fan. Hook 'em Horns and Go Texas--THE University! 

Wilma Sosa
San Antonio, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

After winterizing our place we pulled out for San Antonio
[actually Bandera] our winter spot--even though some 30' of
Medina river flood water moved through the town in July it is
about to recover and the hill country springs are abundant
again with fall colors about to start popping.

You can be proud of TT--we listened to the Tech/Aggie game on
the way down and yes the score ended 48 to 47 in OT down in 
Aggieland--that really is the season for Tech...they hit the
mother lode down there---no need to play TU.

Since the Aspencade was apparently canceled on Sunday the 29th,
my wife & I took our own trip out to Karr canyon on 130--we
hiked in/out about 5 miles and the picture taking was great.

We had a major surprise there--we stopped about half way in for
a breather and while sitting in the grass my wife looked down
and to our amazement discovered a baby horned lizard [aka--a
horny toad/frog]crawling around--we took some pictures and
played with it for awhile but never located the mom & dad--
talk about a find at about 9k feet--the fire ants here in 
Texas have just about killed them out so this was truly the
supreme retreat for this little guy--in place of the usual
desert brown though he was wearing a pretty green coat and
still had the silver belly.

Since we carry a license plate showing the love/concern for
this critter I will report the find to the Texas Society--
talk about the land of enchantment.

R.Y./Kay Wilson 

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Dear Newsletter:

I can't imagine what you have been going through the past two
years. Our hearts are with you and our guns are up!

Jay Stephenson
Lubbock

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Dear Newsletter:

I can solve this dilemma..... GO SOONERS!

Thanks for all the great stories.

Your new neighbors,
The Schaeffers

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Dear Newsletter:

Maybe Peggy should switch her allegiance to the Texas A&M 
Aggies. Then, she would have a team where she could feel sorry
for those "fellers" on a regular basis, since the Red 
Raiders seem to spank them rather consistently. 

And you'd be happy, since your team would generally be on top
in the head-to-head confrontations.

Sounds like a win-win to me. (Or is that just from another
former Red Raider's perception?)

Russell Ingram
Plano, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

I read, with interest, a letter from Pam Brown of Lubbock on
how to start a fire in a fire place that has no gas jet.

We've been coming to Cloudcroft since '68, and spending 5
months up there each Summer since '87. I think I have found
the best solution there is.

Go to any "Saw Mill" and get a 5 gal. bucket full of dry
sawdust; Pour 1 gal of Kerosene into the sawdust. Get a Frisbee
full of saturated sawdust and and pour it onto the wood you
plan to burn; light with a match.

It lights slowly (little to no danger of getting burned) and
works like a charm. A 5 gal. bucket usually last me a couple
years. 

Elmer Ratliff
Midland, TX

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