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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #149
February 14, 2003
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Dear Subscriber:

Life around here has been as routine as possible, given the day
and age we live in.

The dogs are always under foot. Before they jump up on you for
a little lovin', they wait until they've come in fresh from a
romp in the snow and mud and you have on your clean jeans.

Golf is a distant memory (I need to re-grip my clubs if I could
only remember where they are). Harry The Cat has disappeared
again. We're remodeling the kitchen.

I guess the only thing that has changed since February one year
ago is we pay more attention to the news.

What with the Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster and the sword
rattling in Iraq, you could miss something important while
you're outside taking out the trash. We have a small house, but
we have 5 TV sets. Probably more video per square foot than in
the CNN control room.

Back to the kitchen.

Peggy has declared the kitchen remodeling "her project."

She explained to me that the kitchen is traditionally the
woman's part of the house. She, therefore, didn't want me to
give her any grief over her design ideas.

Fact is, EVERY part of the house is the woman's part of the
house. They just let us guys live in it, but us guys don't want
to go around saying that.

The first part of the kitchen project was demolition. Every
item in the room that was there before must not be there any
more. I'm not just referring to appliances and cabinets. I'm
talking walls, ceilings and floors.

The appliances must go. They may work perfectly, but they can't
stay...mainly because they're the wrong color.

Oh, the devious heart beating in the chest of the individual
that thought up the idea of making kitchen appliances obsolete
simply because of their color. So what if it IS aqua? They
still sell paint don't they?

I had my initial period of rebellion. You know...words said
under your breath and deep sighs meant to show disapproval...
but now that we're into the project, I'm getting a little
excited.

Peggy keeps showing me pictures from Better Homes and Gardens
magazine.

"Can we do this?" she will ask.

Who does she think I am...Bob Villa?

Bob comes on the TV and 25 minutes later (not including
commercials), he's built a house.

I'm concerned about the economy, the Middle East Crises and
what will happen with our space program, but I have to admit
it's a welcome diversion to visit the home-improvement store
with Peggy walking next to me saying "can we do this?"

Don Vanlandingham
Cloudcroft.com

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. SPECIAL -- SEASONSCAPE, PHOTO 6
3. VILLAGE NEWS
4. INSIDE THE SHOP -- CENTURY 21 CASA
5. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- UNM
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 small amount of snow last week (about 2 inches).

Highs in the low-40s. Lows in the mid-20s.
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SPECIAL -- SEASONSCAPE, PHOTO 6
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The SeasonScape photo experiment by Kit Richards continues:

http://www.cloudcroft.com/photos/seasonscape.htm

Here's several photos taken at the same time (2/9/03) by Kit
showing tree branches laden with snow.

http://www.cloudcroft.com/photos/tree1.jpg

http://www.cloudcroft.com/photos/tree2.jpg

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VILLAGE NEWS
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There is a new radio station on the air that can be heard in
Cloudcroft.

KNMB-FM is licensed to Cloudcroft, but its studios and offices
are in Ruidoso and its transmitter tower is just outside
Ruidoso.

Federal Communications Commission regulations have been changed.
Stations licensed to a certain community do not have to serve
that community with local news, public service, or local school
news or sports. They do not have to locate their offices or
studios in the town it is licensed to. Such stations typically
serve larger communities near the town to which it is licensed.

While KNMB-FM is licensed to Cloudcroft, it's basic service
area will be Ruidoso.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- CENTURY 21 CASA
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We are members of the Alamogordo Association of Realtors. As
such, we subscribe to a Code Of Ethics that puts you, the
customer and client, FIRST. Our Cloudcroft office offers a full
range of real estate services. As members of of the Alamogordo
Association of Realtors, we can expose your property to more
buyers by putting it into the Multiple Listing Service.

For more information, call us toll free at (877) 873-6468 or
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 -- UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
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http://www.unm.edu/

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Q AND A -- BECAUSE CLOUDCROFT ONLINE READERS WANT TO KNOW
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Q - Can you buy a lottery ticket in Cloudcroft?

A - Yes. I can also give you a great deal on the Brooklyn
Bridge. (By the way, if you are going to buy 1 lottery ticket,
buy 2 instead. You thereby double your winning chances for
the least additional cost. For example, if your winning chances
are 1 in 100 million, buying 2 tickets will double your chances
to 2 in 100 million. To double your chances again, you must buy
4 tickets.)
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COMING EVENTS
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February 14 -- Cloudcroft girls basketball vs. Tularosa. away.

February 14 -- Cloudcroft boys basketball vs. Tularosa at home.

February 15 -- Cloudcroft girls basketball at Lordsburg.

February 21 -- Cloudcroft girls basketball at Capitan.

February 28 -- Mardi Gras in Cloudcroft. 5 days of festivities.
Call (505) 682-2733 for more info.

April 18-19 -- Easter Weekend celebration. Check with the
Chamber of Commerce for events and times. 1 (505) 682-2733.

May 23-24 -- Mayfair.

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.

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.

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:

Haven’t written in a while, but I was so in agreement with what
you said today concerning the shuttle disaster that I had to
put in my two cents worth.

As saddened as we all are about the loss of 7 fine individuals,
I am continually amazed by the knee-jerk reactions of many of
our fellow Americans. Don’t they realize what they are saying
about the way these fine people spent their lives? I for one am
proud of our astronauts and it would indeed be a shame to let
this loss be for naught.

Thanks Don for your words of encouragement through this time,
and for keeping us on track as to what this was all about.

My prayers are with the families through these trying days.

Thanks again,
Kevin Haley
Merkel, TX 

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Dear Newsletter:

Thank you for your words on our world of technology and the sad
loss of our astronauts. We feel the same way as you.

We appreciate you writing the newsletter, Don. It keeps our
spirit refreshed and keeps us up with what is going on in
Cloudcroft, where we spend our summers.

Thank you for a wonderful service.

Larry and Nelda Perry
Lake Palestine, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

Well said. If the people who go up recognize the risk and a
willing to deal with it, what is wrong with us as Americans
that we can’t keep fulfilling our dreams of finding out what
is out there. These brave souls will have died for nothing if
we stop the program now. Keep up the good work.

Philip Duncan

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Dear Newsletter:

I fully agree, We must keep moving to the future, If we stop,
we become stagnate, so forward to the future.

Stanley Payne
Killeen, TX

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Dear Newsletter:

Exploration in space. Absolutely!

I mentioned to my congregation last Sunday that I felt we
should absolutely continue with the space program. I noted that
if it had not been for our ancestors coming and exploring this
wonderful country we would not be here today.

My grandparents did not come until the 1880's into Wisconsin
and then to Niagara County, NY. On the other hand, my wife's
ancestors came in the 1600-1700's. Some fought on the
Continental Line in the Revolutionary War. Some fought at Tory
Hole in Bladen County, NC which became a turning point in the
Revolutionary War in that part of the country.

She also had several brothers of her great grandfather who died
in the "War of Northern Aggression" or "War of Rebellion" or
"Civil War." Family members served in WWI & II etc.

Exploration should and must go on for the benefit of all 
humankind, this country and the world.

Allen Johannes

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Dear Newsletter:

I have always loved and found comfort in a poem written in
1892 by British poet Rudyard Kipling entitled "When Earth's
Last Picture Is Painted."

I have thought of it even more in these days of foreboding as
we await news of whether we go to war or not. It rose in my
heart again this weekend as I watched the loss of Space Shuttle
Columbia. Of note is the fact that Mr. Kipling lost his own
18-year-old son, John, in the Battle of Loos in 1915, during
World War I.


WHEN EARTH'S LAST PICTURE IS PAINTED

When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted
and dried,
When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has
died,
We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it -- lie down for an
aeon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall put us to work anew.
And those that were good shall be happy; they shall sit in a
golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets'
hair.
They shall find real saints to draw from -- Magdalene, Peter,
and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at
all!

And only The Master shall praise us, and only The Master shall
blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate
star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as
They are!

May the crew of Columbia continue to paint beautiful canvases
with comets' hair for the "God of Things as They are!"

Sincerely,
Susan Dudley Levonius
Kingwood, TX

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