Many across the country will be feeling a bit green, in the way a seasick voyager would feel after being tossed by the ocean for weeks on end. After all, this election cycle has been one like we?EUR??,,????'???ve never seen before.

Others will be feeling a bit green with envy, as they had hoped their party or candidate would be the one leading the way. Still others will be rolling in the green as either their taxes will be staying low or they will be getting green from others who will be spreading the green around.

Still others, despite the elections, will be sharing the same green feelings mentioned above because of the roller coaster called the stock market. Who is not feeling a bit green from that ride? Not many can say they are in the green with so much red ink around, but hey . . . this is the last week of October, so by the time you read this the stock market may be at either an all-time low or enjoying another record high . . .

Many who thought that green would be the topic of the elections will be feeling a bit green as the importance of green fuels dropped from topic ?EUR??,,????'??numero uno?EUR??,,????'?? to topic ?EUR??,,????'??back door?EUR??,,????'??. After all, at the same time the stock market was crashing . . . I mean rebounding . . . No wait . . . crashing . . . OK leaping forward . . . Now I?EUR??,,????'???m feeling a bit green . . . Anyway . . . As the stock market fell 40 percent, the cost of a barrel of oil dropped more than 50 percent, leaving poor T. Boone Pickens feeling a bit green after spending all that green on all those green ads . . .

Somewhere over the past couple of months the national attention shifted from green cars and saving green oil fields to green markets, spreading the green around and turning green in the stomach . . .

In any event, the greening of America will be taking place in one way or another, so with all that in mind LSMP would like to go green and congratulate the winners of the PGMS Green Star Awards.

Sorry to say but this issue is not printed on especially green paper, but I do believe the paper was born from green trees. I?EUR??,,????'???m also pretty sure the ink is soy-based, which helps keep the landfills green. One thing I know for sure . . . the facilities featured in this issue have been maintained by the greenest of green thumbs in the world. And who knows green better than the ?EUR??,,????'??Green Industry?EUR??,,????'?? . . .

In a way it is funny to think the landscape industry is just starting to turn green . . . But what used to be the domain of the landscaper and the Irishman has now become the crusade of the mainstream.

So now the green industry, or should I say the landscape industry, is in a position where it has to both fight to maintain its Green Industry moniker while at the same time ease on down the road as it leads others in preserving the green.

Now everyone wants to be green. Your neighbors want to go green by building a compost pile, buying a new refrigerator or placing a few solar panels on their roofs. Builders want to go green by adding insulation, using green energy sources and throwing trees up on the roof. Even sports field managers are going green by replacing turf with polycarbonate fibers and rubber mulch. OK . . . That one is really pushing the envelope . . .

But speaking of greening green with artificial green, this green movement is more like an ocean tide . . . Heck, even the ocean liners are turning green as they cross the deep blue sea . . .

One thing I think is for certain, though, is the winners of the PGMS Green Star Awards have certainly proven that they are not green (as in wet behind the ears) . . . Instead, they are the cream of the green and the top of the crop . . .

So regardless of who was elected, where the stock market sits, or whether you think that global warming is a natural event, and while over the next few years some will be feeling blue and some will be seeing red, many others will be in the pink, thanks to your work in leading the green industry . . .

?EUR??,,????'??+God Bless