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 […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Charmed by the Wild World
A glimpse beyond our tame lives
It is the darkness itself that is so humbling, so profound — pitch black and dark as death. Driving through Truro on a January night, there is an otherwise lunar […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
The Lesson of the Weeds
We are in a cold time. Everything is brittle and liable to breakage. Despair comes so easily. A few days ago, it was warmer, but still we were pummeled. The […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Time Rolls On in Lopes Square
It’s really a rectangle and, in summer, a six-ring circus
If MacMillan Wharf is the heart of Provincetown, then surely Lopes Square is its aorta, where thousands of visitors surge, pulse, and begin their journey into town. After their stays, […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Getting the Name Right
It’s about basic common decency
Many years ago, in that time before cell phones, I was driving up Route I-95 when a familiar voice came on the radio singing “With a Little Help From My […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
The Aftermath
How will we react to the inevitable changes that are coming?
I am a United States citizen in good standing. I have voted in every election since I was old enough to do so, received an honorable discharge from the U.S. […]
