Lexington, KY - March is full of surprises. There's the surprise you get watching the weather report and you find out it's going to be a high of 30 degrees Fahrenheit over the weekend (it's always on the weekend) after a work week well in the 60s - of course the same surprise awaits people in Lexington in January.
There's the surprise of how the Kentucky Wildcats will fare in their tournament run (did I just hear somebody say NIT?), though in the past three NCAA tournaments the Cats haven't even made it past the second round. This year we might not even go to the Big Dance - talk about surprises.
Then, personally, there's the surprise of not knowing what I'm going to get for my birthday. It's childish, I know. I'm aware that as you get older there's a tipping point of birthday anticipation which teeters between enthusiasm and apprehension, but I'm not anywhere near approaching this junction. Interestingly, the other half of our editorial team, Saraya Brewer, has a birthday the day before mine, which should make for a motivating series of days here at the office.
In this issue, the first in a series with Home and Garden packages, Saraya reports on the Miller House, an international jewel in the architecture world discreetly nestled in northeast Lexington just past Jacobson Park. In a city that seems indifferent to historic structures (I would like to direct the reader's attention to the desolate chasm in the heart of downtown), Scott Guyon's efforts in preserving and celebrating the building through the establishment of the The Foundation for Advanced Architecture must be applauded, even more so given the home sustained millions of dollars worth of damage as a result of vandalism.
All of us should take pride in the fact that such a challenging and respected accomplishment in architecture is located in Lexington. Please make it a point to schedule an appointment to witness the structure.
Saraya also shares with us some reminisces on the tragedies and triumphs of her first garden, it's a humorous and relatable narration. As an anecdote to illustrate my gardening prowess, I remember asking my grandfather (an accomplished and prolific gardener) one year if he were going to be planting any green tomatoes that season. He was already shaking his head incredulously before I realized the amazing amount of stupidity that had just poured from my mouth.
Fortunately for those of you agriculturally challenged like me, Saraya's piece points readers to the Fayette County Extension Office where bushels of gardening information awaits. She also included some quick tips for your plot and a listing of upcoming gardening classes in the community.
Columnist Ann Bowe has turned in a nice piece on transforming a great room to better suit an owner's chi through the instruction of Feng Shui, and in another piece presents to us the first signs of growth: the spring ephemerals. Check out her column to read about bloodroot, wild ginger and Dutchman's breeches, and some of their interesting characteristics for survival mechanisms.
Be sure to read about the other kind of green we've come to associate with the coming of spring - St. Patrick's Day. Writer Esther Marr helps get us ready for the coming festivities to be provided by the 30th annual Lexington St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival on March 14 and introduces us to some of the parade's organizers through the years as well as some popular misnomers about Irish culture (corned beef and cabbage isn't an Irish tradition?).
We also included a handful of toasts which I hope you put to good use, just in case you happen to find yourself on the right side of a mug of green beer.