Nationally, this was the year the ground shook.

Locally, it was the year the ground was cleared.

Weeks after the American landscape quaked under the worst financial collapse since perhaps the Great Depression, the country elected the first African-American president.

Overall, it seemed we lived several lifetimes this year -- from $4-a-gallon gasoline back to prices from an earlier era; from a feeling of financial security to absolute uncertainty, almost overnight; and through probably the longest presidential primary and general election in human history.

We knew the ground would shake. We just had no idea how much.

Augusta wasn't completely spared the turmoil. We lost Castleberry's Food. Co. after 82 years, following corporate changes and the devastating recall of 2007. The Lynx hockey team played its last game after a decade of minor league thrills here. And there were incidents such as the Sept. 19 Columbia, S.C., plane crash involving Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, who was treated at the burn center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, and the shooting of a man attempting to elude police at Cherry Tree Crossing housing project.

And, of course, there was the Coliseum Authority, more famous for staging fights than booking boxing matches.

Then again, there were the high points -- the Augusta Greenjackets, at 93-50, being named minor-league baseball team of the year; the Augusta State University men's basketball team coming within 20 minutes of winning a national championship; and the first-ever "Westobou" arts festival, which may have already become the city's signature cultural event.

And there were the simple human stories -- such as the heartwarming adoption of five Guatemalan siblings by Scott and Renee Dean of Harlem, who already had two boys of their own.

Mostly, though, 2008 was a year of stability and preparing the ground for the future in Augusta.

While housing prices were amazingly stable, compared to the rest of the nation -- appreciation here was in the top seven nationally, as noted in a column by Mayor Deke Copenhaver on the opposite page -- the ground was cleared for several major projects. Dirt was turned for both the $67 million judicial center and the $24 million downtown library.

The ground -- or at least groundwork -- also was being prepared for the Watermark condo and retail development at the riverfront from 5th to 6th Streets (since slowed by the economy), and for the new $20 million trade, exhibition and event center, also on the riverfront.

The city also continued to explore the wisdom of a downtown baseball stadium further up the river.

So, if the ground churned nationally in 2008, in Augusta it was mostly just turned.

It's a nice place to be.