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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER # 217
June 4, 2004
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Dear Subscriber:

I had that same recurring dream last night.

We were invited to a black tie affair at The White House.
The guy in the fancy jacket with the gold epaulettes on his
shoulders announced us;

"Mr. and Mrs. Don Vanlandingham."

Peggy was dressed in a beautiful gown with pearls the
size of eggs. We came down the opulent staircase into an
ocean of faces you see on TV all the time. There was
Powell and Rice and Rumsfeld and Rather (who invited him?).

Everyone sipping their pre-dinner cocktails and their eyes
turning toward us to watch our descent.

I didn't have any pants on.

Everyone pretended not to notice. At the bottom of the
stairs I grabbed a table cloth to wrap around me and knocked
the punch bowl off the table.

Peggy kept smiling. Out of the corner of her mouth she said to
me, "Don't worry, Honey. You don't have to impress any of these
people. Besides after tonight, they'll never invite us back
anyway."

I've had that "no pants" dream several times. Some psychologist
once said it's pretty common...derived from a subconscious
feeling that you're underdressed.

I know what brought it on.

A couple of weeks ago Peg and I were there when my father-in-law
accepted an award from the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. As
I got dressed in our hotel room for the awards banquet, I
realized my dress shirt was too tight around the neck. What the
heck, I thought. I'll just go without a tie. This is New
Mexico. The home of casual independence. There will probably
be lots of guys there with an open collar.

There was. Out of 300 or so people there, there were three men
not wearing ties. Me and two others. One of the others was the
piano player and the other guy stayed off in a corner by
himself. I think he was there for the free food.

Since moving to Cloudcroft I've had very few occasions to dress
up. I own 6 pair of jeans. Three pair I work in and three pair
I go to town in. My idea of dressing up is a pair of go-to-town
jeans and a pressed shirt with a Sears off-the-rack blazer. I
have three neckties (I wear ties at funerals). I even have a
clip-on tie I never wear. Wish I could. They're so easy to put
on but everyone can spot a clip-on and they're not cool, even
for a jeans guy like me.

Several years ago I was invited to deliver the graduation
commencement address at Morton, Texas High School...my Alma
Mater. That was when I lived in Lubbock and had a couple of
suits hanging in the closet.

What an honor. I worked on the speech for a week. I wore my
best everything. Tie, jacket, trousers, shoes, underwear...
everything. I even timed my haircut for a week before. I
didn't want to look like I had just had a haircut.

The speech went well. At least I thought so. People applauded.
Nobody threw anything.

Outside the auditorium, I'm standing there talking to some old
high school friends when one of them said, "Hey, Don...you got
a problem." He was looking below my belt.

My pants were unzipped. My heart raced. How long had I been in
THIS condition? During my speech? Pleeze, no.

In any case...thank goodness for podiums.

Upon later inspection, I found the zipper on those pants was
defective. It came open with a deep breath. That was the last
time I ever wore a pair of dress trousers. Jeans aren't as
dressy but at least the zipper does its job.

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 -- GARY MACK REAL ESTATE
4. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- THE MOUNTAIN TIMES
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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Due to other commitments, this newsletter was written during
the past weekend. Any weather statements would be out of date.

We invite our readers to go to our up-to-the-minute weather
site at Cloudroft.com for existing conditions and Cloudcroft
weather history.
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VILLAGE NEWS
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Nothing new on the human remains discovered near Cloudcroft in
April.

The Otero County Sheriff's Office says the bones are those of
a female Caucasian. The remains could have been there for as
long as 15 years.

According to The Mountain Monthly, there was a 7-11 shopping
bag found nearby.

If you can contribute to this investigation, contact the Otero
County Sheriff's office (505-437-2210).
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- Gary Mack Real Estate
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We've got what you want at Gary Mack Real Estate. We will take
care of all your real estate needs. We offer quality service
because our customers are our top priority. So the next time you
are in the Cloudcroft area, stop by and say hi. Gary Mack Real
Estate, where the coffee is always hot and the smiles are always
free. For additional information, see the link to our web site
on the Real Estate page of Cloudcroft.com:

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

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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- MOUNTAIN TIMES
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An excellent source of Sacramento Mountain News and history.
Timberon's home town newspaper.

http://www.mountaintimes.net/

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - We want to fly the US flag at our cabin. Are there any
flag flying restrictions in the Village?

A - No.
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COMING EVENTS
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June 4 -- Artist reception for Brad Price. Cloudcroft Gallery &
Gifts. 5pm.

June 10 -- Cloudcroft Art Society. 5:30pm. Old Red Brick
Schoolhouse. Demonstration by local pastel artist, Linda Green,
who specializes in portraits.

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. Cloudcroft.

June 19-20 -- High Rolls Cherry Festival. 9am - 5pm each day.
Food, drink, cherry and cherry products, activities for kids,
arts/crafts vendors. (505) 682-1151

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

July 10, 11 -- July Jamboree. Cloudcroft.

July 23-25 -- Singing in the Clouds. 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.

Cloudcroft Art Society meets the second Thursday of each month,
5:30-7pm, in the Old Red Brick School House.

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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Dear Newsletter:

I have enjoyed your news letter for the past year, I look
forward to my Thursday emails.

I visited Cloudcroft with my family “three children, wife
and parents” last July for the first time, we have a time
share at the high sierra in Ruidoso. I played my first real
game of golf at the lodge last year and now I’m hooked.

I have a question… One of the first things I noticed while
playing golf at the lodge is the altitude, how are visiting
football teams able to compete at home games in Cloudcroft?
Your kids must really whoop up on visiting teams.

Look forward to playing golf in the clouds the second week
in July.

Rick Rowell

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Dear Newsletter:

Regular reader of your news letter and enjoy it very much. The
new weather report is excellent. I wonder, the pressures are
very low. Have barometers been set for altitude?
 
Curtis Erwin 
Midland, Texas

[Yes, with a very expensive GPS.]

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Dear Newsletter:

Good morning Don -- another wonderful newsletter! Thanks. 

Here in Hereford, Tx. we got some of the smoke from the
Peppin fire and the other fires in New Mexico this week. As I
am sure most of the cities and towns between here and New
Mexico did.

It was a strange feeling. knowing that the atmosphere and
constant winds we have in this area could do this. It reminded
us of how small our world really is.
 
Thanks again for the newsletter. I look forward to each
Thursday. As do some friends who do not have a computer, that
I share the newsletter with.

Marian
Hereford, Tx.

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