Op-Eds
TOUGH GUYS
On Power and Stupidity
We kids were not dumb, but we let ourselves be led
I remember hanging out on the corner with the tough guys, waving at passing cars, preening for girls, bumming Winstons, planning turf fights. Stupid stuff. I once was arrested for […]
TREES THAT FEED US
Why the Woods Must Be Burned
The National Seashore needs a fire management officer and crew
Last month, at Fort Hill in Eastham, a fire crew carried out the first prescribed burn in the Cape Cod National Seashore since 2021. It’s a moment I’ve been watching […]
INCANTATION
The Poem as the ‘Enemy of Despair’
Czeslaw Milosz knew that poets make dictators nervous
The history of the poem as an art form is very long, reaching back to at least 4000 BCE. It’s not surprising that the means by which the poem expresses […]
OP-ART
When the Sky Is Falling
BEEN THERE, DOGE THAT
Efficiency Without Effectiveness Is a Nightmare
We should be inspiring, not firing, federal workers
I will now sheepishly admit that when it was first announced, I was jealous of the DOGE — President Trump’s so-called Dept. of Government Efficiency. When I worked for the […]
OP-ART
Women Rising Up: Truth
WATERCOLOR
See Not, Hear Not, Speak Not
DISSENT
Deconstructing The Brutalist
It’s a murky, pretentious film with a tenuous Wellfleet connection
I’ve been mulling why it is that The Brutalist has captivated film critics. At three and a half hours, it’s a weighty film, and much was clearly invested in the […]
OP-ART
Hope
VOICES OF FAITH
‘Be Merciful to the Stranger’
Only as a united front can we realize Dr. King’s dream
Every day since last week’s inauguration, we have heard of the dismantling of another initiative that was put in place decades ago to end institutional racism and hiring practices that […]
OP-ED
A Night to Remember
When I moved to Wellfleet 20 years ago, I went to get a library card. The librarian volunteered a bit of local flavor to me, the newcomer. “In Wellfleet,” she […]
RECKONINGS
The Unfinished Work
Dr. King’s last question remains: ‘Where do we go from here?’
The unfinished work that Abraham Lincoln referred to in the Gettysburg Address has been on my mind lately, as have the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. […]
FIRST SNOW
A Child’s Christmas in Wellfleet
Hand-me-down boots, peppermint sticks, and a rose-scented kiss
Working at Wellfleet Town Hall, I find that memories of growing up here come back easily to me. All it takes is a slight change in the light, a sound, […]
OP-ED
Six Hours of Suspense
Taking heart in South Korea’s resistance to martial law
I have gotten a dose of much-needed inspiration from what just happened in South Korea. In case you missed it, the political opposition there joined with members of President Yoon […]
