WELLFLEET — For decades, the New England cottontail, a rare species of rabbit, appeared to be nearly wiped out here. But a new study has found evidence that these rabbits […]
Visual Stories
COOKIE SWAP
In Praise of the Joe Frogger
The cookie for a town’s sailors and those who didn’t fit the Puritan ideal
The Joe Frogger deserves wider recognition, full stop. It’s a historical American cookie made with pantry staples and features a molasses base spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. It’s firm […]
MEET THE MAKERS
A Community for Craftspeople, Customers, and Friends
Holiday markets bring out artisans by the dozens and shoppers by the hundreds
The holiday markets here celebrate a long history of handicrafts made on the Outer Cape. Where there were once bayberry candle makers, rug hookers, net weavers, beach plum canners, and […]
MILLION-YEAR PICNIC
With Winter Comes the Hunter
Look to the constellation Orion for bright stars and newly formed ones, too
If there is one constellation that most people can identify, it’s Orion — the hunter. He strides boldly across the night sky, a club in one hand, a shield in […]
D.I.Y.
A Good Woodpile Is a Curmudgeon’s Comfort
Ban the tarp, have a stacking strategy, think about your BTUs, and enjoy the ambience
It’s the season for stoking woodstoves and laying in firewood. But those are arts that, up to now, I’ve only been the beneficiary of. I like sitting by a glowing […]
ON THE LANDSCAPE
A Piece of the Forest’s Winter Fabric
Emerging from the woven woods, a deer forces a pause
I was on my daily pilgrimage to the ocean, driving north along the bluff above the water in Wellfleet. It was the dimming end of a silver-skied November day, and […]
NOT A FOLLY
It’s a Holly, Y’all
The Outer Cape is the last stop on the train for Ilex opaca, the American holly, a southern tree whose range snakes up the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts before […]
LOVE, ACTUALLY
After 20 Years, Two Best Friends Tie the Knot
PROVINCETOWN — Nicholas Busa and Olushola Reis were married outdoors at the Provincetown Visitors Center in the Cape Cod National Seashore on the afternoon of Nov. 27, 2024. “I didn’t […]
WARRIORS WATCH
Girls Basketball Sees a Surge in Popularity
NRHS will have freshman, JV, and varsity teams this year
EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School girls basketball team is working on rebounding, with Coach Jean Leyton advising from just under the backstop. While the players know it’s important […]
PARTY DRESS
All Dressed Up
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Dec. 10 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ASTRAL PROJECTIONS
Conflict, With Benefits
Revisiting old animosities is one way to acknowledge your mistakes and move on
This week will come with its challenges, especially in the realm of interpersonal conflicts. But we’ll find there are some opportunities, too — if we can just see through their […]
MEET THE MAKERS
Finding Flow and Balance in Metal and Stone
A shop where two sisters sketch, weld, grind, hammer, and polish their jewelry into existence
WELLFLEET — In the sunlit back room of a Bank Street shop are workbenches scattered with loops and lengths of metal and wire; heavy metalworking equipment sits in the corner; […]
FAMILY RECIPES
Abuela’s Arroz con Dulce
A Puerto Rican dessert is well loved by (almost) everybody
First a little history. When the Moors invaded Spain in the Eighth Century, they introduced rice and saffron into the Spanish culinary oeuvre. Delicious, savory paella and sweet arroz con […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Sea Captain’s Daughter Who Sang Puccini
A once-famous Wellfleetian didn’t seem to merit a grave marker
Many might remember the anxious feeling of being urged by a well-intentioned parent to perform for relatives at a family gathering. For Martha Atwood of Wellfleet, the family gathering was […]
