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CLOUDCROFT ON LINE NEWSLETTER #209
April 9, 2004
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Dear Subscriber:

The last time I played golf was last September. I went to The
Lodge and took advantage of the slow season and played a round
by myself. It was my first round since I played with a bunch of
visiting friends over a year before that. I guess I could have
called a couple of people and gotten a game together, but I
really didn't want to play with anyone. I think I was afraid of
embarrassing myself.

In the early 90s, when I lived in Lubbock, I did a morning show
on the radio. I went to work at 5am and I was off by 11. By 1
in the afternoon I was on the golf course at least 5 days a
week.

There was a group of us that played Treasure Island...a little
3-par course in Lubbock that is now a Wal-Mart parking lot.

That was when I was a good golfer. You other golfers will
appreciate a 75 percent greens-in-regulation rating. I
also have 4 holes-in-one.

Sounds good until you do the math.

Greens in reg are easier when every shot is from the tee box
and when you play 36 par 3's a day, 5 days a week about 45
weeks of the year, that gives you about 8000 shots on the hole
a year. I did that for about five years. I made 4 out of a
possible 40,000 hole-in-one attempts or something roughly
thereof.

If you don't make a hole-in-one every once in a while in that
environment, you're either really bad or you may be hitting
with the wrong end of the club. There's an old saying in golf:
"Even a blind hog can find an occasional corncob." Probably a
saying heard more on the courses in the agricultural areas of
the country. Big city golfers probably think a hog is a Harley.

It was lots of fun, though. Back then golf was like another
part of my brain. From 150 yards out, a ball outside of 20 feet
from the pin wasn't a good shot...especially if you knew the
course.

Putting was like the candy store back then. From 15 feet in
you could bet the farm on it.

My golfing buddies and I were all fanatics. Our daily games
were a great way to escape from the day's tribulations. We
played $100 a hole skins (never expecting anyone to actually pay
off). We dreamed of a chance to play the senior tour some day
(hopefully some time after Tom Watson's retirement and before
Tiger got old enough).

Golf is a wicked woman. If you don't pay attention to her just
about every day, she'll leave you.

My priorities changed after we moved to Cloudcroft. Peggy and I
not only changed our location, we changed our lifestyles. She
left a good job at Texas Tech. I left radio and my almost
constant fascination with golf.

When I played last September I guess I was foolish enough to
think I could pick it up where I left off. On hole #10, I lost
another golfball in the forest. Checking my bag, I realized I
didn't have another ball.

Golf is such an exciting game. It can also be extremely
humiliating.

It was a rude awakening. I can't remember not finishing a golf
game, but I didn't finish that day. As I drove the cart that
bitter distance back to the clubhouse I remembered what Dad used
to say. Golf is a game of practice. If you don't practice,
you'll not only not get better...you'll get worse. He was
right.

I got in the truck and drove home. I didn't throw my clubs in
lake or anything silly like that. I put them in a corner of
the garage. I stood back a moment and remembered all the
wonderful trips my clubs and I had made around the golf course.
I patted the driver on its head and said "I'll be back." Lots
of golfers talk to their clubs. They just don't often admit
it. As I closed the garage door I came to the bitter
realization the Senior Tour was in no danger from Don
Vanlandingham.

This is Master's Week. For you non golfers...it's the
Superbowl of the Little Ball. All of the best golfers in the
world will come together in Augusta, Georgia to decide not who
is the best golfer but who can win "The Master's". It's not
always one and the same. What you won't see are the hours and
hours of practice that went into all those heroic shots.
Whoever wins The Masters (or any tournament, for that matter),
deserves it. As the famous classical guitarist Laurendo Almieda
once said about the guitar: "It's easy to do badly and very
hard to do well."

I'll be watching The Masters. I'll be wondering if, when I was
on my "A" game, I could have hit that shot or made that putt.

Then, after it's over, I'll return to reality. In the back of
my mind, though, I'll hear Marlon Brando's famous words:

"I coulda been a contender."

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 -- PINE CREST CABINS
4. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- CARLSBAD CAVERNS
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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The wettest beginning of spring in many years. Over an inch of
actual precipitation in the past week in the form of snow and
rain. A good week of moisture all over the southern part of the
state. Because of the warm temps, the snow melted rapidly.

Here's some photos of a very cold hummingbird April 4th.

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

http://www.cloudcroft.com/photos/coldbird1.jpg

http://www.cloudcroft.com/photos/coldbird2.jpg

Highs in the upper-60s. Lows in the upper-30s.

NOTE: Real-time weather conditions for Cloudcroft will soon be
available on Cloudcroft.com. Equipment has been purchased and
will soon be installed.
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VILLAGE NEWS
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The position of Police Chief in the Village of Cloudcroft will
likely be the top issue on the agenda of the Village Council
meeting April 13. Details of that meeting in the next issue of
The Newsletter.
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INSIDE THE SHOP --- PINE CREST CABINS
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Great Location. Clean, modern, yet rustic looking 1 and 2
bedroom cabins, nestled in a beautiful secluded, wooded location
in the Village of Cloudcroft. All cabins are fully furnished
with well equipped kitchens. They each have fireplaces and
televisions. For more information, call (505) 682-2239 or
1-866-682-2239 (toll free), email PineCrest@ZiaNet.com, or see
the link to our web site on the Lodging page of Cloudcroft.com:

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

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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- CARLSBAD CAVERNS
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The caves are just the beginning of the caverns experience.

http://www.nps.gov/cave/

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - When do the local mountain golf courses open?

A - As soon as the snow clears. Probably in the next two or
three weeks. Call The Lodge (1-505-682-2098) or Ponderosa Pines
(1-505-682-2995) for up-to-date information.
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COMING EVENTS
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April 10 -- Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Bonnet Parade

April 10 -- Dog Canyon Ranch House Hike. 437-8284.

April 11 -- Community Sunrise Service. Baptist Church, 7am.
There will be a breakfast following the service.

April 17-18 -- Rattlesnake Roundup. Alamogordo.

May 5 -- High Noon book club. 12pm. In the library. Bring
your lunch and join us in discussing MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by 
Arthur Golden.

May 8 -- Old Timer's Reunion

May 29, 30 -- Mayfest

June 12 -- Miss New Mexico "Show Me Your Shoe" Parade. Golf
Tournament at the Lodge Golf Course. Proceeds go to the
Scholarship Account for the Miss NM Contestants.

June 18, 19, 20 -- Western Roundup

June 19-20 -- High Rolls Cherry Festival. 9am - 5pm each day.
Food, drink, cherry and cherry products, activities for kids,
arts/crafts vendors. As of early April it appears that we will
have abundant local cherries. (505) 682-1151

June 25-27 -- Chimney Spring Bluegrass Festival. For more
information call 505-687-3520.

July 10, 11 -- July Jamboree

July 23-25 -- Singing in the Clouds. We invite all to join us
for some great gospel singing, solo's, trio's, quartet's, and a
lot of group singing by all. (325) 691-9123.

September 19 -- Gary Johnson’s Cloudcroft Run. World’s highest
certified 10k run. For more information call 505-687-2133.

October 2, 3 -- Oktoberfest

Cloudcroft Art Society meets the second Sunday of each month,
2-4pm, in the Old Red Brick School House. Call (505) 682-3004
for more information and details on the Cloudcroft Summer Art
Workshops.

Cox Canyon Volunteer Fire and Rescue is organizing an
auxiliary unit. If you would like to help support this group
of dedicated men and women, call 682-3084, 682-4664, 682-3719
or 682-3234.

Would you like to help deliver meals to the homebound around
Cloudcroft? Monday through Friday deliveries. Call the
Cloudcroft Senior Center at (505)-682-3022. For information on
other Senior Center services, see their web site, listed on the
Cloudcroft.com Links button.

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

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 8:30 every Tuesday morning.

Free Vitals Clinic. Cloudcroft Senior Citizens Center, every
Wednesday. High Rolls Senior Citizens Center, first Thursday
of each month.

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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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Put CC-Editor in the subject line of all communications to the
Newsletter.
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Dear Newsletter:

Love your newsletter and have fallen in love with Cloudcroft
as the getaway destination close to perfect. And everyone
remains small village charming and yet cosmopolitan in scope. A
great lil secret with even greater folks.

Carry on in Cloudcroft...wink...and Don you are so right to
get to Cloudcroft or Ruidoso from the east. You truly are
forced to view some ugly places. Artesia must be a profitable
industrial area, but its rusting hulks of industry deserve
a scenic fence or earthen embankments to hide the decay. But
the desolation of no zoning does increase the scenic grandeur
of the New Mexico mountain oasis.

Thanks for all you share and howdy New Mexico. Hola from

West Texas.
Jerry Mc

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Dear Newsletter:

Thanks for another newsletter. We have a soccer team here in
Amarillo. People really go out and support it. I'm not a
soccer fan my self. I guess when you know someone that makes
it more fun to watch.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Shirley Myers

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