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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #240
November 12, 2004
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Dear Subscriber:

Peggy went to Lubbock last Thursday to visit our daughter. Amy
has a new dog and Peggy decided she needed to be there to be
sure Amy knew how to take care of a dog.

For 4 days, I was alone with our dogs. Four days of loneliness.
No one to talk to. Peace and quiet.

Friday morning -- Peggy left yesterday. I woke up at the
same time I usually wake up.

The only difference was there was an ominous vacancy on the
other side of the bed and no kitchen clinks and rattles and
there was no smell of fresh coffee.

Misty licked my face as if to say if you want coffee you're
gonna have to get out of bed and make it yourself so I did.

I can make coffee. C'mon. It's not rocket surgery. Water in
the reservoir, coffee in the filter, hit the button. The little
red light comes on. You're home free.

A glitch occurred. I couldn't get the lid off the coffee pot.
I could apply a little brute force but that could result in
permanent damage and an eventual creative explanation of why I
messed up the coffee maker.

Call Peggy? Never. I can do this.

I finally figured it out for myself. The pride of not having to
ask for help was gratifying. Coffee smells extra good when you
make it yourself.

I heard this muffled noise. It was Rocky the parakeet. In my
predisposition of wrestling with the coffee pot lid I forgot to
take the cover off his cage.

I took the cover off. "Rocky...how ya doin?" He gave me a
squirrely look. He was either mad because I was late with the
uncovering or he was used to seeing Peggy's pretty face in the
morning and instead he saw this guy that needed a shave with
hair going every which way. My breath wasn't probably all that
great, either.

I clothespinned a cracker up in his cage and he went to chewing.

I was feeling good. I was on a roll. The coffee was almost
ready. The bird was happy. The dogs were standing around in
the kitchen looking at me with the tandem questions in their
eyes of "what are you doing in here?" and "where's Peggy?"

"OK, guys. We're gonna have a party," I said out loud.

I don't think dogs understand much of the English language but
they pick up on voice inflections so the tails started wagging.

It was then that I realized my usual morning routine had been
skewed. I looked at the dogs and told them, "I'll be back. I
have to go to the bathroom."

When I came back into the kitchen the dogs were still there
wondering what was going to happen next and I announced to
them that we were going to fix The Mother of All Omelets. The
tail wagging went from little whips to circular revolutions.
When the tails start moving in circles, you know you have their
undivided attention.

I pulled out the biggest frying pan I could find and put it on
the stove and turned up the heat and cracked 3...maybe 4...eggs
and scrambled them into a bowl. Then I dove into the fridge and
found some onion and some tomatoes and some jalapenos (whoa..
those little rascals will likely make their presence known all
day) and cheese and some ham and various and sundry other edible
things.

"This is gonna be good." The dogs were getting into it. So much
tail wagging it was creating a breeze. I tossed each of them a
piece of cheese to keep them in the game.

It all went into the pan. It was a really big omelet.
Frantically I started looking for a spatula that could handle
the project. It occurred to me that I may need a forklift.

It worked. I don't know how but it did. An omelet the size of
a football and no discernable damage to the kitchen. I looked
and there wasn't a plate in the house big enough to hold it so
we just ate it out of the pan.

A bite for me. A bite for Misty. A bite for Pheonix. A bite
for Tipper and then Pogo and again and again. Rocky the
parakeet didn't get any. He was still working on his cracker.

Man can survive without women, so long as there's Zantac.

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. PICTURE OF THE WEEK
3. VILLAGE NEWS
4. INSIDE THE SHOP -- BARRY AND ANNE BAMPTON, REALTORS
5. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY
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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A warmish week. Cooling by Wednesday. No new precipitation.
High during the reporting period 61.8 at 10:45am November 6.
Low of 27.3 at 4:47am November 5.

Rainfall total for the year to date...22.03 inches.

For up to the minute weather conditions measured at Cloudcroft's
only on-line weather station, go to Cloudcroft.com. The
information is free.
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PICTURE OF THE WEEK -- A CLOUDCROFT VIEW OF SIERRA BLANCA
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http://www.cloudcroft.com/pics/cloudcroft4.jpg

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VILLAGE NEWS
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The Cloudcroft Bears won their first game in the State playoffs
against Jal, 39-19. The Bears are 9 and 1 on the season.

Their next playoff game is against Questa this coming Saturday.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- BARRY AND ANNE BAMPTON, REALTORS
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Looking for property in Ruidoso or Cloudcroft? Call us at
RioRuidosoRealtors.com, (505) 258-3888 or (800) 780-0062
(toll free). After moving from San Angelo, Tx, we have lived in
Ruidoso and Cloudcroft for a total of 8 years and are familiar
with all mountain property. Call anytime or email us at
barrys@zianet.com or see the link to our web site on the Real
Estate page of Cloudcroft.com:

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

If you are coming to Ruidoso, come by our office next to
Farleys.
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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY
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http://nsosp.nso.edu/data/latest_solar_images.html

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - Can you recommend a good place to eat in Cloudcroft on
Thanksgiving Day?

A - Most of the village's restaurants will be open on
Thanksgiving Day. I don't want to recommend one because it
would make the rest of them mad. Hard to get good service when
a restaurant is mad at you. It's a small town thing.
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COMING EVENTS
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November 13, 14 -- Christmas Arts and Crafts Show. Willie
Estrada Center. Alamogordo.

November 13 -- Honor Band Concert. Flickenger Center.
Alamogordo.

November 16 -- Antique & Collectable Show and Sale. Civic
Center. Alamogordo.

November 18-21 -- Coming Home for Christmas Arts Festival.
Alamogordo.

November 18 -- Pianist Romayne Wheeler. Bethal Baptist
Church, Alamogordo.

November 20 -- Chamber Banquet. Lodge Pavilion. Cloudcroft.
Cocktails at 6pm, dinner 7pm. Tickets available from the
Chamber office and Chamber Board Members.

November 20 -- Polish Philharmonic Resovia. Spencer Theater.
Alto.

November 20 -- Poetry Open Mic. The Open Book Bookstore.
Alamogordo.

November 20 -- Mickey's Christmas (a film). Flickenger Center.
Alamogordo.

November 26 -- Diamonds for Christmas. Spencer Theater. Alto.

November 27 -- Beginning of Christmas in Cloudcroft and Santa
Land.

November 29 -- 'Twas The Night Before Christmas. USA Ballet.
Flickenger Center. Alamogordo.

December 2 -- Art reception for Boys and Girls Club. Flickenger
Center. Alamogordo.

December 4 -- Skywatch program. Museum of Space History.
Alamogordo.

December 4 -- Christmas Parade. Alamogordo. Arrival of Santa
Clause.

December 4 -- ULLR-fest.

December 11 -- Pet Parade on Burro Street. Cloudcroft.

February 4, 5, 6, 7 -- Mardi Gras celebration. Cloudcroft

Cloudcroft Art Society meets the first Sunday of each month,
2:30pm, in the Old Red Brick School House. Visitors are always
welcome. Refreshments usually served. 

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 Wednesday morning.

Free Vitals Clinic. Cloudcroft Senior Citizens Center, every
Wednesday. High Rolls Senior Citizens Center, first Thursday
of each month.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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Dear Newsletter:

I don't have a dog, but I live with a cat named Nirvana. I
didn't name her. She is like Pogo. She sits on the arm of my
chair, facing me, and when she wants me to pet her, she taps
me on the shoulder with her left paw. 

If I ignore her, she reaches for my left hand. If I rub her
head, she is happy, but if I don't she just makes a pest of
herself. She really is a lot of company even when she is a
pest.

Eleanor Martin
El Paso and Twin Forks

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Dear Newsletter:

Thanks for the Cloudcroft photos in your editions, Don. 

I wonder if there's a camera bug willing to trudge to the bottom
of The Lodge Golf Course and take some photos while the fairways
are snow-covered. I love playing that course and will take
advantage of my American Cancer Society Golf Pass for the free 
green fees they offer as part of their help in fighting cancer.

I've never played any course where the people were friendlier
or more helpful than those folks up there. My congratulations,
or perhaps condolences, to the retiring manager.

Don Ammons
Post, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

Thanks for the little note about the glitch in the weather
instruments. I check the weather for Cloudcroft almost everyday
on your website and when I saw there had been 25" of rain in
one day I almost fell out of my chair! My first thought was
now there would be no more water problems in the Village. My
second thought was the Village was now in Alamogordo after 
being washed down the mountain.
 
I hope the area gets a good amount of snow this winter and I
will be looking forward to seeing you during the Christmas
holidays.
 
David Hanebutt
Stephenville, Texas

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Dear Newsletter:

For your Q AND A section:

Q: You’re a man of words. What’s the correct wording here:

I’m going up to Cloudcroft.

I’m going down to Cloudcroft.

Seems like no matter where you are in Southern NM, Cloudcroft
is higher. But what if you are north (such as in Ruidoso) and
going south (down) to Cloudcroft? Do you say “down” meaning
south or “up” meaning higher?

What if you are west (such as in Alamogordo or Las Cruces) and
are going east to Cloudcroft? Do you still say “up,” or do you
say “out” or “over” to Cloudcroft?

Or maybe you just say “I’m going to Cloudcroft” and leave it
at that?

A: ????

John Edmonds

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Dear Newsletter:

As native Cochran countians of old, being transplanted to 
Alabama, then back to Hockley County after many years, we lost
contact with you when we changed E-Mail addresses. We have a
place in Cloudcroft so we totally enjoy the newsletter, keeping
us up-to-date on the going-ons in Cloudcroft. 

Thank you for including us.

Patsy Coffman

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Dear Newsletter:

1. If by God's grace I have occasion to come to your door,
(probably never) you will not have to put the dogs away.

2. I loved the poem...as a suggestion, you might mention to the
author to check in on the syablication rules in poetry.

3. I'm glad you got the snow, here in Clint it is is going to 
be a "70's" day. (Light jacket in the AM:, and summer in the 
PM:). God bless...

Nauldoshimi/Ralph

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Dear Newsletter:

I grew up visiting Cloudcroft as much as possible (lived in
El Paso). However, I moved to San Antonio and am now deprived
of my favorite mountains. 

Lucky for me, I am getting to finally make a trip to Cloudcroft
over the long Thanksgiving weekend. I will be spending the day
of Thanksgiving in Cloudcroft with my three kids who have never
experienced snow or really cold weather or the pure bliss of
the clean mountain air.

My question is: Is anything going to be open for Thanksgiving
day for us to get a Thanksgiving feast? It has been 7 years
since I last got to Cloudcroft. I miss it so much that it
hurts and I am not going to pass up this opportunity. But I
do need a place to feed my three kids (who seem to always be
hungry). I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some
information. 

Thank you so much,
Michelle Miller (San Antonio)

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Dear Newsletter:

Loved your story about your dogs and how funny they are. 

My youngest son of 16 yrs. Has a miniature rat terrier named 
Trixie and boy is she somethin' else. My ex-wife started 
raising them about 11 yrs ago and she has 12 dogs. Well, right
now Trixie has to shack up at the ex's because my landlord
won't let us have a dog in the house.

Come thanksgiving Trixie is coming home. I've asked the 
landlord to get his things out of the garage, but refuses to
do it. So I've decided to bring my little lady home. Trixie
runs the roast at the ex's and won't take no bull off of
anything. We have tied a squeaky toy to the end of a fishing
pole line and man does she have a love/hate thing going with
it. Must be because grandpa's a good caster and likes to toss
it so it lands right on her back. 

But, the neatest thing she does is if we've all been gone for
a couple days. She jumps up on our laps looks us right in the
eyes and puts her paws around your neck and gives us soft
kisses. She likes it when I or my oldest are lounged out on the
recliner. Because, she puts us to sleep in about a couple
seconds. 

She's the only female that lives in the house full time, except
when my mother comes to visit and then Trixie starts growling
and barking and ends upstairs in her room. When I retire in 
about 5 yrs, I will have a short hair like her and I am real
picky about dogs. 

Well, Don, ya'll have a great holiday period and keep writing
those great stories.

Kansas born and raised,
Daryle "Book" Bookout Sr.
Pretty, Prairie, KS

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