Árbol del Sol
Volume 13, Number 1, April 2006
A Publication of the SunTree Travel Club
SunTree Travel Club is an affiliate of The American Association for Nude Recreation
(AANR), AANR-West, the International Naturist Federation
and The Naturist Society

Thought for the Month
"Life is Short, Play Naked!"

Notice:
Our friend and the founder of the new, improved Faywood Hot Springs, Elon Yurwit passed away on Thursday, March 16. SunTree Travel club sends our sympathies to Wanda and the girls for their loss.

The SunTree Traveler

What Happened in March?

Green Days in Alamogordo
As usual, the St. Patrick's day weekend in Alamogordo was full of green-ness for all. Assorted (and peculiar) green forms of food showed up for the event and the four-legged leprechaun members of SunTree were in the mood for the festivities.

The southern New Mexico weather gremlins decided to remind us that the calendar says that it is officially winter even though up until that weekend, we have not seen evidence of that this year. A little sprinkle of the traditional New Mexico springtime breezes floated by (and the Gulf coast gets all excited by the same breezes, but they call them hurricanes). That did not keep the hot tub from been used to its fullest capacity. Overall it was a fun weekend.

April Club Doings

Opening April weekend at Faywood Hot Springs
Our first event of April is on the very first weekend of the month and we have been calling it "Management Appreciation Day" but we have gotten some members who object to that (they must be upset at the SunTree Club Management, though the joke is on them because SunTree does not have any management). For that reason, we will be changing the title to honor those members of the club who attend our events for the purpose of educating all attendees on what is wrong with the world and how it would be greatly improved if they were in charge. For that reason, we are changing the name of the event and will honor our club geniuses. We will designate the first of April to be their special day.

This event will be yet another in a string of enjoyable camping trips to Faywood Hot Springs. There will be a potluck meal on saturday evening (and probably other meals as well). Warning to all - no April Fool Jokes in the dishes provided for the potluck.

Call Faywood early if you will need to reserve an RV hookup space or a cabin. Most of the time there are plenty of tent spots available, but it would not hurt to reserve one of those either. It never hurts to let the Faywood Hot Springs folks know how many will show up at these events.

 A New Venue for SunTree Events
We have had no comments about the name of our second event of the month. It will be on Earth Day weekend (unless you want to change it to Pluto Day).

SunTree is invited to a new location for the second event for April. Don and Lois have invited us to their new home in Belen, NM. They have apparently been working hard to get the place ready for an assault from the Championship SunTree Full-Contact Potluck Team.

They tell us that they have plenty of floor space and and room for a couple of RV's. No Dump.

April Celestial Events

It is Time For the Annual Celestial Shift Change
It is again that time of the year when the Sun decides to set a minute or two later each afternoon and some of our favorite winter constellations are setting as much as four minutes earlier each evening. The bright, lingering sunlight is washing out our view of some of the star groups that we have been watching through the last few months. Orion is the most identifiable one to be disappearing, but there are several others that like to hang in close to the hunter which will also start fading from our view.

As for our planetary neighbors we have, once again, the aid of the Moon this month to help us to find the various planets. This tour guide service will start early in the month.

On 3 April, we can find the planet Mars just below the crescent Moon. Mars is not so bright as we have seen him in the past, but he is still quite easy to spot with the help of the Moon.

 I am sure that you remember our old buddy, Pollux, the brighter of the Gemini twins. Although he is not a planet, but a certified star, the Moon decided to help out with locating him on 5 April when he will be just above the Moon. will

The very next night after the Moon’s targeting of Pollux, it will take aim at our bright solar neighbor, Saturn. On 6 April, Saturn will be just below the Moon.

Not so bright to Earth dwellers (as a majority of the readers of this newsletter are), that old gasbag, Jupiter will have a meeting with the Moon on 14 April. Jupiter is now rising around 10:00 PM and dominates the sky throughout the nights.

The bright spot to the left of the crescent Moon on 24 April will be our “get-up-early” buddy, Venus.

Between 18 and 20 April (especially on 19 April), if you have binoculars, you can see bright Venus and dim Uranus traveling in close proximity. This happens about an hour before sunrise. You can get a little help from the Moon on 24 April when it moves in to see what those two are up to.

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