Fantasia Fair, which unfolds from Sunday, Oct. 20, to Sunday, Oct. 27, represents the best of Provincetown. This isolated village at the end of Cape Cod is a haven for […]
Commentary
METAPHYSICS
Persephone on the Sagamore Bridge
The sadness of leaving one set of pleasures for another
Driving west over the Sagamore Bridge in early October, heading back to Chicago, I sighed as I realized I was once again doing my biannual Persephone act. Ah, but which […]
the year-rounder
Fishing Is Our Essence
Has Provincetown learned Mary Heaton Vorse’s lesson?
PROVINCETOWN — My late father-in-law was a wonderful man, with a simple palate, a real meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. Whenever any of his three daughters (each an accomplished and inventive […]
island notebook
Cock Soup From Scratch
Memories of my Jamaican grandparents come back to life
WELLFLEET — I grew up in the agricultural community of Black River, Jamaica, where my grandfather, Elmas Gustauvas Bowlin, was a prominent butcher at the local farmers’ market. The pride […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Provincetown’s Fake Economy
Income inequality is all around us
PROVINCETOWN — I live in an unusual Provincetown neighborhood. There are 11 nearby dwellings, and eight of them are occupied year-round. (That’s 73 percent.) Two of my year-round neighbors own […]
VIEW FROM THE HIVE
In September, Honey Bees Turn Conservative
To survive the cold, colonies produce a crop of “winter bees”
Honey bees, like all social insects, are inherently aware of the late summer’s waning day length, low sun angle, and chilly nighttime temperatures. With the end of the sweet pepperbush […]
MOVEMENT
Balancing Act
Try this at home: Simple exercises for a steadier future
We all strive to find balance in life. In a physical sense, it’s central to everything that we do from walking to surfing and from gardening to high-intensity sports. The […]
million-year picnic
Celestial Navigation
Finding Jupiter and Saturn at the end of your arm
The planets Jupiter and Saturn returned to the evening sky last month and will be with us through autumn. Jupiter looks like a brilliant white-gold star, and Saturn is a […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Sanctuary and Balance
Our hallmark should be respect for all, including ourselves
PROVINCETOWN — Sailing or motoring out of Cape Cod Bay, rounding Long Point and entering Provincetown Harbor, there is a sense of protected water. The harbor appears as a big […]
VIEW FROM THE HIVE
Sweet Pepperbush Honey Harvest
The last big nectar flow of the year is happening now
WELLFLEET — In early August, sweet pepperbush, also called summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), comes into bloom where I live, in north Wellfleet. And when it does, the “honey factory” goes into […]
next month in review
What Tarot Foretells
The Ten of Swords loosens our logical minds
Artists, poets, therapists, fortune-tellers all understand that the urge to uncover meaning in an apparently random arrangement is an aspect of the human condition. We long for personal messages whispered […]
island notebook
Whit’s Lane
The envelope, please
WELLFLEET — Black River, where I grew up, is the capital of St. Elizabeth’s Parish. Known by the beautiful sobriquet “breadbasket of Jamaica” because of a thriving agricultural and fisheries […]
the year-rounder
Peculiar and Superior
Why is it that people are so happy to be here?
PROVINCETOWN — It happened again the other morning: walking my dog on the beach I met a couple and we began talking. I mentioned something about last winter’s storms. There […]
sketchbook
Late Season Tree Swallows
In August, flocks swirl over bayberry
In the late season the tree swallows make flocks, sometimes thousands of birds, roosting on remote beaches and descending on stands of bayberry shrubs with their candle-wax berries (which few […]
in season
Striped Bass: A Reason to Live Here
How to use every part of a prized catch
Striped bass migrate north from the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River during the summer into Cape Cod Bay. I learned from my grandfather that catching a “schoolie,” which is a […]
