Some things are difficult to think about. The difficulty could lie in their complexity. I can’t wrap my brain around quantum mechanics, black holes, or the Electoral College. But other […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
New Bird in Town
The ravens are back, and they are building a nest
We are more than halfway through April, and the air is already full of birdsong. It seems every other bush in town hosts a song sparrow, lustily bellowing his qualifications […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Waiting for the Tody
A little Puerto Rican bird that expanded my world
I fell in love with the little bird long before I saw it. Maybe it was the name. I was on a plane to Puerto Rico, studying the Princeton Guide […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Taking Inventory
An adventure in living-room archaeology
I was amused to hear recently that archeologists had unearthed some salacious graffiti in Pompeii. I am not sure why this gladdens my heart so much, but it does. It […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Ruled by Our Stuff
Does a man own his house or does the house own him?
I have never forgotten a story I heard over 50 years ago. A guy I worked with had an epiphany (perhaps inspired by something he read, perhaps by psychedelics) and […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Perspective Versus Hyperbole
Facts are taken in through an emotional filter
Here’s something we all can agree on: we live in a beautiful place, largely free of dissension and stress. The world over the bridge is an increasingly scary place, full […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Losing Our Connection
Baby turtles as a remedy for ‘species loneliness’
I am walking with my dog, Dory, along Provincetown’s Old Colony Nature Trail on an unusually mild January day. I pause at a certain spot, as I do every day, […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
In Pursuit of the Hearty Garlic
The market and the community, with and without pickles
The shelves and coolers at Stop & Shop have a plethora of pickles. There are dill pickles aplenty: hot dill, kosher dill, hamburger dill, and baby dill. There are half […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Paul Tasha: An Appreciation
A Provincetown original who knew exactly who he was
Decades ago, local visionary Jay Critchley created “P-Town, Inc. — Formerly Provincetown,” a satirical project in which he imagined the inevitable gentrification of the town and its transformation from a […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Resolved: A Better Version of the Self
‘How to live this life of ours well and naturally’
The establishment of the first of January as the beginning of the “new year” is entirely artificial. A better date for a celebration would be the spring equinox — or […]
1956
From ‘The Moors’
The Moors holds a hallowed place in the history of Provincetown restaurants, even though it has been gone long enough (it closed in 1998) that many latecomers may not know […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Entropy Disrupted
Friends and helpers bring order out of chaos
“It’s always something” is a common phrase loaded with meaning. At my place it is the rule. Why is everything always breaking? And what am I to do about it? […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Looking for the Blackbird
A futile search yields other breathtaking sights
That damn yellow-headed blackbird: I just couldn’t find it. As William von Herff reported in last week’s Independent (“Rare Birds in Truro,” page B8), this rare Western bird was first […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
The Pilgrims Revisited
Current events ask us to explore the motivations of our ancestors
Nov. 11 was the 403rd anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower in Provincetown Harbor. For at least the last 120 years, the people of Provincetown have worked to correct […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Identity and Ethnic Specialness
Dehumanizing divisions are tearing our world apart
I can still see the resplendent genuine Sioux war bonnet in the window of Fitch’s Trading Post down on Third Street in Harrisburg, Pa. Even though it has been almost […]