I am sitting on my deck in the early hours of a new day, isolated from the world, including — believe it or not — you, dear reader. I am […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Hunger Rules the World
What I learned from a pair of charming Carolina wrens
Our property is just a few thousand square feet, largely occupied by our modest house. But the Carolina wrens I have been watching over the years are orders of magnitude […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
The Seawall Revisited
Living on borrowed time
It has been two years since I discovered David Read’s painting on a seawall in the East End of town (“Painting on the Seawall,” June 29, 2023). That amounts to […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Reading at the Old Colony
For one night, a sacred watering hole becomes a literary salon
Many years ago, I attended a reading by Michael Cunningham at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. I think he was reading from his then-just-published book, Land’s End. In […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Waiting Tables
The powdered oyster joke was on me
On a cold night in October more than 50 years ago, the staff at Ciro & Sal’s restaurant was getting ready to close. It was after nine o’clock, there had […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
A History Lesson
Reflections on a new book about what happened in Nazi Germany
As I have noted in this space in the past, World War II ended the year I was born, and I grew up Jewish in Harrisburg, Pa. with a continual […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Walking the Dogs
The ‘movie stars’ of Provincetown and their fun uncle
The world is in disorder, our rights and freedoms are under threat, but some things remain unchanged: for one, dogs still need to be walked. Our dogs depend on us […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Fight Like Josephine
We need to be reminded of the hard things Del Deo achieved
Our individual lives, so precious to us, are brief and then gone, like snow on the water, vanished utterly with barely a trace left behind. Those few throughout history who […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
No Place Like Home
Belonging is fundamental to everyone’s welfare
In the 1970s, I worked to protect nesting least terns on the back shore. In those days, we did not close beaches to vehicles, but we did post areas where […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
The Crisis Within
How does one respond to meanness and maintain a sense of self?
Many decades ago, I shoplifted a book, just for the hell of it. I do not remember the title (maybe Lady Chatterley’s Lover?) but do remember the thrill of stashing […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
A Change Is Gonna Come
It is human nature to want things to stay the same
Late on a warm summer night more than 50 years ago, I was bicycling home from an evening downtown when I came upon an apparition. Or so it seemed — […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
I Walk Alone
Living with loss and holding fast to grief
The trouble with Life is that it is a one-way affair: there is no turning back, no opportunity to rewind the tape, revisit a scene, refresh an event. There is […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Snow Day
Taking courage from a song sparrow on a wintry walk
These are trying times indeed, but the world persists in sending us gifts on a daily basis, if only we would notice and accept them. Yesterday, the gift was snow: […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
The Flag Is Yours and Mine
Conflicted feelings after an agitating sight on the highway
January 21 was a brutally cold day. Driving down Route 6, late for an appointment, I noticed not one but two vehicles with giant American flags billowing behind them. Of […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
The Season of Winnowing
Searching for beauty and completeness on the winter beach
This is the season of winnowing. The wind-scoured streets and what stubbornly remains remind us that we are all just — yes — hanging on. Winter is a test for […]
