Exactly 50 years ago, I met Charlie Schmid, or Dune Charlie, as he was known. He was what might have once been called a hermit, living by himself with his […]
The Year-Rounder
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
On Reading Moby-Dick
The annual library marathon symbolizes entry into a community of believers
Of all the human shortcomings I can think of, the one that irks me most is complacency. Of course, a healthy sense of self is a positive thing, but being […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Dispatch From Lucca
Impressions of a small walled city in Tuscany
I have lived in Provincetown so long, loved it so much, and traveled so little in recent years that I sometimes forget there are other beautiful places in the world. […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Tide Line Mystery
On being confronted with a simple, inexplicable occurrence.
We all live our lives where the sea meets the land, and it does so every day, twice a day. This meeting is foreordained — it is an encroachment really […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Robert, the Down East Philosopher
‘We are born into a narrative,’ says a visiting dissident
Most of the philosophers I have ever met have been from Maine. I am not sure why, but they seem to crank them out up there. Perhaps it is their […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Life Flows Through Us All
How the living behave and create meaning
On a cold gray day trying to be blue, large blowsy snowflakes swirl out of a pewter sky. There is no wind. The harbor and the bay beyond are calm […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Taking Steps on the Breakwater
Much as people love it, the Long Point dike has no useful function
Is there a pile of rocks anywhere in this world as beloved as Provincetown’s West End breakwater? Generations of residents and visitors have clambered over it — it stretches more […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
In the Storm’s Aftermath
Thoughts on the tossed-up fragments of Provincetown’s past lives
That bleak morning just before Christmas, Provincetown was set back on its haunches by a roaring winter wind and a surging southeast 11-foot-plus tide. The beach and abutting properties glistened […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Ugly Ornaments
An odd holiday ritual finds joy in the grotesque
OK, the holidays are over. We made it to the new year, Christmas is almost two weeks behind us, and we are all done with it: like a way-too-sweet piece […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Ebenezer Scrooge Revisited
There is a bit of this classic misanthrope in most of us
It is time to confess: you have never actually read Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. This work is so ingrained in our culture that it lives in the collective subconscious, […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Bulkheads: A Provincetown History
The growth of waterfront fortifications in a changing town
The other day a big wind came directly from the south, and the waves in the harbor were high and crazy. At high tide, spray broke over Route 6A by […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Giving Thanks Is the First Step
Sometimes you have to separate the hype from the essentials
Let’s face it: most of us are not walking around feeling thankful; it’s just not in our nature. We more often concentrate on what we don’t have than what we […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Beeches, Whales, and Salt Marshes
The natural world now depends on us
The funk of decomposing autumn leaves and the whiff of wood smoke are in the air. Fall colors are seeping through the woods — the scarlet leaves of the tupelo, […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
The Voice of Old Provincetown
Listening to six writers of a town’s living history
Last night I heard the voice of Provincetown. Old Provincetown. It was not one voice but six, each unique, yet they blended into a song of remembrance and regret. I […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Errands: A Cure for Ennui
The necessity of getting together
Seasons come and go, but it is the same day always. Whatever the vagaries of weather, it is the same morning, noon, and night. The toothbrush in the mug on […]
