Thanks for voting on the Sky on Fire Photo Contest. Based on your recommendations I am pleased to announce that Nate Creech is the winner for his beautifully peaceful photograph from Holden Beach in Brunswick County along the North Carolina coast. If Nate will send me his address I will mail to him a signed copy of my new CD Simple Beauty which was featured in the music/photo essay. Nate, my email address is bleslie@wral.com/   I would also like to salute Kevin Gard, Paul Clements, Dean Edwards, Laird Howrey and the many other fine photographers for their awesome images.

I have put together another music/photo essay for next week with a foreign flavor. Would any of you like to contribute to an additional essay featuring foreign photography? If there is enough interest I will be glad to assemble another program.  First, though, I will have a mini movie with a strong Irish flavor. Look for that early next week.

Next week we begin our 100 Days of Fitness work-outs. I was thrilled to receive an email from a local county government expressing interested in having all county employees taking part in the program. More on that later. Each day with the guidance of Fitness/Nutrition Coach Tara Wind I will give you a work-out and nutrition schedule. I will stay one week ahead of the pack to let you know what you can expect. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about this program. It is going to be a winner for all of us!