Last week’s Independent reported the story of a student who withdrew from Nauset Regional High School because of anti-Semitic harassment. An unnamed girl who participated in that harassment was said […]
Op-Eds
OP-ED
Mercy: A Canine Tutorial
Finn attends to a fallen fellow animal
From the time that Liz and I rescued him from the streets of Puerto Rico, Finn has been preternaturally attuned to the needs of others. He is a creature of […]
THE NATIONAL DEBT
Anatomy of a Looming Crisis
What a U.S. default would mean to you and me
The U.S. debt ceiling may seem an arcane, boring subject, but what will happen to all of us if Congress fails to raise it and the country defaults could not […]
LETTER FROM ACROSS THE POND
The Midwinter Promise of Imbolc
Trusting the yet to be seen
New Year in Scotland, known as Hogmanay, arguably from Old French, Norse, and/or Goidelic, is a very big deal. Several nights of partying, fireworks, the singing of “Auld Lang Syne,” […]
PREVENTING VIOLENCE
The Unfulfilled Promise of Community Mental Health Care
An argument for taking action to treat those who refuse help
This year has brought a reckoning with the ways our health and legal systems fail those with mental illnesses and their families. The tragic deaths of Truro’s Susan Howe and […]
ENCOUNTERS
Making Space at the Table
A Thanksgiving with Afghan refugees embodied the spirit of the holiday
Last year I celebrated Thanksgiving in the Hyannis home of my friends David and Paloma McLardy, immigrants from Scotland and Spain, respectively. They put a few tables together in their […]
WINGS OF CHANGE
Why I Ran the New York City Marathon
At mile 20, a small act of kindness changed everything
People say that when you decide to run your first marathon you better do it for the right reason. My first marathon was 11 days ago in New York City. […]
COUNTY LINE
Provincetown’s Sewer Epiphany
Voters accept the dual reality of climate change and the need for more housing
A remarkable consensus developed last week at Provincetown’s special town meeting. A packed town hall auditorium agreed, nearly unanimously, to commit $75 million to an ambitious effort to make this […]
POETRY
Provincetown Pantoum
Inspired by Maria Nazos
This poem was inspired by Elizabeth Bradfield’s article on Maria Nazos’s “Cape Cod Pantoum” [“Afloat at Land’s End,” Oct. 6, page C8]. There is so much right about using this […]
LETTER FROM ACROSS THE POND
Animal Magic in the Marsh
A shamanic excursion to land’s end
Because she possesses a kind of shamanic animal magic, when Rina said she wanted to go for a bike ride with me, I let her lead the way. At the […]
MASTER PLANNING
Build a Food Forest Garden, Not a New Pool
North Eastham’s town center should be focused on giving back to the Earth
On Wednesday night last week, I attended the final North Eastham Village Center Master Plan meeting at the Eastham Public Library. The design group has done a great job so […]
COUNTY LINE
Equity Must Be Our Goal
Poverty and homelessness are here among us on Cape Cod
On WOMR’s Alternative Radio the other night, I listened to a compilation of talks by Barbara Ehrenreich, who died on Sept. 1 and is best known for her groundbreaking undercover […]
FIRST LIGHT
‘Water Please’: A Timeless Harmony
Reflections on the continuity of life here
When Mashpee Wampanoag flautist Ej Mills Brennan told me she would be bringing her boom box along with her flutes to play on Sunday morning at Chapel in the Pines, […]
OP-ED
Save the Endangered Cottage Colonies
Small, simple houses represent a viable housing option for the Outer Cape
For the past few months, I’ve read with consternation about plans for 17 Coast Guard Road in Truro, which is currently home to the late-1950s Hi-Land View cottage colony. The […]
OP-ED
Stop the Weapons, End the War
Now is the right time to pursue peace in Ukraine through diplomacy
Set aside for a moment your worries about inflation, Covid variants, mass shootings, climate change, and Supreme Court decisions, and consider instead the ongoing war in Ukraine. Now in its […]
