Striped bass fishing has been outstanding this past week as solid catches were reported by the few boats that ventured out. Once again, the area between Race Point Station and […]
Visual Stories
MORNING FLIGHT
Breakfast With the Birds
Seeds and suet fuel migrant flocks and year-rounders
A couple of weeks ago, I felt a chill in the air, and I knew it was time. I drove to Orleans, purchased a 40-pound sack of sunflower seeds, and […]
WARRIORS WATCH
Halfway Through Season, Nauset Soccer Teams Lead the League
Boys varsity qualifies for postseason; girls are well on their way
EASTHAM — Nauset High soccer has something of a reputation. The boys varsity won all 23 games in 2016, then did it again in 2018, when they finished third in […]
MIDDAY AT THE OASIS
A Constellation of Cottonsedge
After trudging over the blinding, desert-like mountains of sand that compose the first half of Provincetown’s grueling dune shack trail, a hiker then stumbling across the floating, twinkling hairballs […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Oct. 8 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ASTRAL PROJECTIONS
The Ups and Downs of Libra
Get ready for a rocky week
The week ahead may be a rocky one. Or maybe you’ll find it particularly rewarding. The way it goes for you might depend on your ability to let go of […]
ROAD TRIP
With Ishmael, on Johnny Cake Hill
In New Bedford, the whaling museum has history both ominous and hopeful
NEW BEDFORD — Herman Melville’s Ishmael certainly must have scuffed his soles on the cobblestones of Johnny Cake Hill. I know he arrived thinking “…whenever it is a damp, drizzly […]
ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY
How Puritan Beliefs Shaped Cape Cod’s Landscape
At John Doane’s Eastham home, evidence of rapid deforestation but no wild meat
EASTHAM — Somewhat surprisingly, given that Cape Cod is an enormous glacial sandpile, the first European settlers to build permanent homes on the Outer Cape were in search of dirt. […]
BACKYARD FARMER
Poultry and Their Politics
An amateur analysis of ‘chicken business’
It’s a hen-peck-hen world out there. By “out there,” I refer to the front garden of our house in Wellfleet, where our three hens are placidly sipping from a puddle. […]
TREASURE ISLAND
Tiny Tyke Soccer Is a Kick
Smiles, tears, cartwheels, and water breaks at Provincetown Rec’s soccer for kids 6 and under
PROVINCETOWN — The little chickens sitting on small soccer balls like round yellow eggs flew into a frenzy at the chirp of a neon whistle. They ran around, sometimes kicking […]
FROM THE LARDER
It’s Not Dutch, and It’s Not a Baby
End of summer supper with Pops
It’s weird how much I long for both the coming of summer and its end. We’re breathing a little more easily now, as the year shifts into a slower tempo, […]
LIFESTYLE MEDICINE
Eastham Offers Seniors a Walk in the Park Every Friday
A 65+ walking group that gets people moving outside is a ‘smell-the-roses thing’
EASTHAM — Jean Ehret stepped around a puddle and looked out across the rolling, recently mowed fields of Fort Hill in Eastham, which were taking on the browns and golds […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
The Ocean Gets a Good Mixing
Whales, dolphins, bass, and blues
Our recent inhospitable fall weather continued to dominate the waterfront, with east and northeast winds making going out and catching fish challenging. Despite the lack of southerly winds, though, water […]
ON THE BEACH
The Enduring Teachings of a Childhood Pond
Nature provides places to heal, but now it asks for our protection
We called it Spectacle Pond, but maybe that’s just a name we neighborhood kids made up. All I can find now on maps of Lexington is a tiny, roundish pond […]
PET PARADE
Blessed Dogs and Dancing Ones, Too
People and pets turn out for animals that need adopting
PROVINCETOWN — The Rev. Brian Raiche made his way through a crowd of some 50 animal lovers and dozens of dogs gathered on the sunny lawn of St. Mary of […]
