March 8 is International Women’s Day, and this year I got to celebrate it in a truly fabulous fashion. Ouita Michel, Kentucky’s Queen of Restaurants and Eating Local, pulled together a group of vibrant and diverse women restaurant owners from across the state for “Let’s Talk & Celebrate.” We gathered at Honeywood Restaurant in Lexington for a special menu of small plates prepared from each of these women’s establishments. For those in the dining room, it was a perfect opportunity to sample the rich culinary traditions and newest innovations of our state while celebrating women in our commonwealth. For us in the kitchen, it was a rare chance to talk, laugh, and work with like-minded folks as dishes got prepared and plated, side-by-side.

My entire understanding of the dangers of a virus changed when my 5-year-old son developed rare and severe complications from pneumonia, triggered by nothing more than the flu. I never would have expected for him to be in the ICU fighting for his life because of a commonplace virus. It was the first time in my life that I realized that my entire conception of sickness was based on a tidy formula that I had created from my own experience. I thought that children came down with an illness, got a little worse, and then would come a peak from which they would inevitably get better. How could I understand the vast scale of possibilities? I had never stood at the edge, seeing for myself how mightily a virus could attack until that December, when my own child’s life hung in the balance.

The Moonbow Christmas Fair is born from a passion to bring some of our incredibly talented artists in the region to an accessible venue and a wider audience. We could not be more excited with the lineup for this year, which includes everything from banjos handmade by a young punk rocker from Harlan to fine leather goods made in Laurel County. We will have everything from beautiful original paintings to hilarious stickers and prints, along with t-shirts, candles, bath & body products, decorative home goods, and baked goodies. We will also have Moonbow at 2nd & Main open, with a selection of some of our most favorite goodies (we know you need some possum socks). Whatever you love, and whoever you are shopping for, you should find perfects gifts at the Moonbow Christmas Fair.

J.D. Vance loves to be provocative to get attention – it has garnered him millions from his book, “Hillbilly Elegey,” and subsequent movie. I grew up in and live in the rural mountains of Appalachian Kentucky. Vance is not as popular here, because most folks think the occasional summers at his grandmother’s house as a child do not qualify him to speak to the experiences and values of Coal Country. Although I am not a fan of Vance, I find his story compelling and have never had an issue with him capitalizing on his narrative until he used his platform to speak out against early childcare and education. His recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal made it clear that his current life working at a think-tank in Washington, D.C. has left him completely out-of-touch with the needs of families in rural and working-class America. His argument that funding early education and care would hurt families is what we, in Appalachia, like to term “hogwash.” At least when we are using polite language.

Parts of the rural Appalachians have just experienced flooding that left roads twisted apart and crumbling away, homes underwater, and entire downtowns flooded. These are rural communities that are not often in the spotlight, so let’s talk about where they are and what we can do to help them as they go through the long process of drying out and rebuilding.

For most of us, February 14 is the day that we associate with Valentine’s Day. But the holiday holds a very different and special meaning in Harlan, Kentucky, thanks to a very special special kid named Cade. Cade was born with a congenital heart defect that made everyday tasks difficult for him, until one fateful Valentine’s Day in 2018. On that day, he received word that he would be the recipient of a heart transplant. Not only was this life-changing for him, it happens that this special day is also National Donor Day – the day set aside to bring awareness to the importance of organ donation. I want to share with you more about Cade, and how we are celebrating love by focusing on National Donor Day at the coffee shop. There is even a special twist that shows how many people are touched by organ donation.