I once packed a mason jar of soil

I.

A winter afternoon, and fishing conditions are far from ideal: a cloudless sky and brilliant sun, its shard-like refractions ricocheting off the gin-clear creek and somehow darting behind my sunglasses. The temperature has climbed to nearly 40, but the sunshine and absence of wind makes it feel warmer. A shade too warm for the wool […]

Donated books reveal the inner lives of readers

Culinary traditions are integral in tying families and friends together. Joyful celebrations of holidays, weddings and births or somber gatherings, such as funerals, have food at their core. Writer Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky’s poet laureate from 2021-2023, examines this theme in her new book Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of […]

By John W. McCauley, Lexington

Crystal Wilkinson’s latest book, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, explores the relationship between food and family

I might as well tell you about it.

Woo-hoo! I did it. I did it. I really, really did it. At age 69, I got my first (and most likely only) tattoo.

Two weeks—join the Confederate forces or be hanged as a traitor. Two weeks. Not much time, but it was all he was going to get. He shivered, chilled by more than the cold cutting through his woolen breeches. The red mare snorted. Andrew Fondren shifted carefully in his saddle. He watched as puffs of white […]