WELLFLEET — Oysters don’t hibernate, but when winter sets in and water temperatures dip below 48 degrees Fahrenheit, they enter something like a dormant state, which allows them to conserve […]
Visual Stories
INSPIRED EATS
The Sides of March
Venturing out (or staying in) for small plates inspired by ancient Rome
We are precipitously close to spring, but the season still lags. Looking out on gloomy weather and shuttered shops, one can feel caught in stasis. Perhaps you are yearning for […]
THE BURREN NOTEBOOK
Isn’t That Interesting?
Storytelling in a place where the natural, human, and divine worlds co-exist
I believe in the fairies. I do. It doesn’t hurt that science these days is talking about parallel universes and worm holes, and that particles are neither here nor there […]
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Where to Shop at the Far End of the Off-Season
The Independent’s March guide to more than the bare necessities
You don’t need a TikTok influencer to tell you that it’s very now to push back against the forces of a consumerist culture that follows you online wherever you go. […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
DMF Takes Watch and Wait Stance on Stripers
The rules for striped bass fishing, such as they are, won’t change for 2025
We’ve been on quite the roller-coaster ride since the close of the 2024 fishing season, trying to follow rumors and meetings about what to do with striped bass regulations for […]
MORNING FLIGHT
A Bird Symphony Begins
They don’t sing for us, but birdsong makes people feel good
The sound echoes from the marshes behind my house every morning, starting in late February: konk-a-REEE. It’s an alarm clock of sorts — it signals the start of a new […]
NATURAL SELECTION
A Huckleberry’s Close (But Not Kissing) Cousin
The native shrub Lyonia ligustrina is a close relative of blueberries and huckleberries in the Ericaceae family that makes a name for itself by producing hard capsules around its seeds […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, March 11 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ASTRAL PROJECTIONS
When the Outer Planets Align
Brace for big shifts and brash behaviors
The planets are affecting how we end old cycles and start new ones. This is the last week of Pisces season, and Pisces, being the last sign of the horoscope, […]
HOEDOWN
The Boot Scootin’ Boogie and Other Line Dances
Francis Grant wants you to allow yourself to have a good time
Music drifts out of the Wilde Playhouse room at the Gifford House in Provincetown, but it’s somehow not what you’re expecting. It’s the twang of the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” by […]
THE ESSENTIALS
Lucky Soup
Finding — and sharing — good fortune by cooking with what’s in the pantry
What can you do with four carrots, three sausages, two potatoes, a cup of leftover marinara sauce, some chicken broth, and a takeout box of steamed rice? I checked the […]
CULTIVATION
The Bold and Patient Art of Bonsai
David Gavelek teaches a class that’s part horticulture, part art, and part engineering
Six bonsai trees in clay pots stand in a lineup under the fluorescent lights of the cafeteria at the Truro Central School, awaiting critique. The bonsai, all larches and junipers, […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
When More Stripers Overwinter in Northern Waters, Poaching Follows
Massachusetts does not have a winter moratorium, at least not yet
As we wait for the weather to warm and trigger the striped bass spring migration, there are some interesting — albeit troubling — issues to follow regarding the effects of […]
GIRLS HOCKEY
Playoff Run Ends With Second-Round Loss to Woburn
Warriors lose 5-3 after defeating Norwood in first round
WOBURN — Time ran out on the Nauset-Monomoy girls hockey season Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Rink but not before another gutsy, entertaining effort by the Warriors. The girls lost to […]
BOYS HOCKEY
Nauset Blanks Danvers and Advances to Elite 8
The Warriors’ next obstacle in title run is their old rival, Marblehead
ORLEANS — The Nauset Warriors made it look easy on Saturday, cruising to their second playoff hockey win, 9-0, over the Danvers Falcons and advancing to the Mass. Div. 3 […]