Well folks, it is hard to believe, but 2008 is outta here! Hope you had a wonderful holiday season so far, and that everything you wished for came true. It seems to me that the years just whiz by us as we get older, and we don't realize it till it's too late.

Well folks, the year is finally almost over. Seems like 2008 just got going full-steam ahead, and then with a blink of the eye it is holiday season already. Hope you and yours had a fantastic Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with those you love.

Wow can you believe its October already? Seems like yesterday we were in the summer doldrums, and then, fastforward and its almost Halloween. Doesnt seem possible to me, but it is! You know it is fall though when the annual Art In the Arboretum festival of arts and best-inshow contest arrives.

Welcome to September and the end of yet another great summer in the Triad! The fall is not quite here yet, but already people are gearing up for festivals, holidays and the good times of the upcoming seasons. Evidence of this was the Labor Day Flea Market held each year in Hillsville, Va.

Welcome to summer in the Carolinas! This is the type of summer I grew up with many years ago with most days staying relatively pleasant temperaturewise, and the ever-changing flower scene always amazing in presentation. The Triad is certainly not hard on the eyes, and as we near August the arts community is humming right along.

Greetings to you all. The last time I saw you was in April. What a spring we had! I had a wonderful mini vacation during the month of May which gave me time to catch up on my own personal "favorite things": couch potato sessions, reading and seeing movies - in a theater. On the subject of the first, I watched along with the rest of the country, the annual "American Idol" finale.