If you think 2021 wasn’t as full of silver linings as 2020, you can thank the cosmic dance of Saturn and Uranus for making every molehill this year feel more […]
Visual Stories
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. 21 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
CROSSWORD #29
Dark Times
HOME/MAKING
Wellfleet’s Other Chamber of Commerce
Though this old house is deteriorating, its purpose is priceless
Tucked in the magazine rack at the Wellfleet swap shop, a few reproductions of 17th-century Dutch paintings stand out among glossy periodicals. In one, a richly dressed figure commands the […]
BOGSIDE
Storms, Sanding, and the Slow Restoration of Sassamanesh Farm
Bringing back an old cranberry bog is ‘a different adventure every year’
ORLEANS — The Outer Cape has its wild cranberry patches, hidden in the dunes and alongside ponds. But it takes a road trip to Orleans to find a cultivated bog. […]
SUGAR AND SPICE
At Relish, Cookies Have a Season Unto Themselves
A summer shop makes a winter essential, sending cheer far and wide
PROVINCETOWN — On a summer day around noontime you can locate Relish by the crowd of people waiting outside. In handsome tank tops or flowing beach gowns they gather, placing […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Mr. Greenough’s Tea
A wreck at Race Point plunged the Outer Cape into Revolutionary politics
In Wellfleet’s Duck Creek Cemetery, three remarkably well-preserved colonial headstones with classic iconography are a tangible reminder of the John Greenough family. The stones, like too many in Cape Cod’s […]
CONGREGATIONS
Spiritual Leaders Find ‘Adversity Can Make You Stronger’
Churches get creative and accept ‘the gift of readiness’
When the churches on the Outer Cape had to suspend all in-person activities in March 2020, there was a period of uneasy quiet for both leaders and members. For a […]
COOK'S KITCHEN
The Joy of Cookie Chaos
A two-decade-long tradition starts as child’s play
Christmas movie marathons, finding the pickle ornament hidden in the tree, folding tamales, regifting fruitcakes — the holidays inspire all kinds of traditions. For almost 20 years, our son, Asher, […]
WARRIORS WATCH
High School Sports Calendar
A weekly preview of Nauset High sports
See related story about postponement of some Warriors boys basketball games. Thursday, Dec. 16 Girls basketball: The Warriors play at Norwell High School at 6:30 p.m. After losing the season […]
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. 14 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
NAVIGATING BY THE STARS
The Winter Solstice Invites Balance
Considering comfort and adventure under the full Moon in Gemini
As the days begin to wax again after the solstice, bringing longer light, we find ourselves at a turning point. Winter is settling in, and the full Moon in Gemini […]
MEET THE MAKER
Barbie and Ken Get Dolled Up for Christmas
Toys, tinsel, and fake fir
Celeste Hanlon sits in her Eastham studio surrounded by vintage Christmas ornaments and boxes of Barbies from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s — most missing those fabulous fashions Barbie collected […]
TURTLE TALK
Audubon Volunteers Rescue More Than 400 Sea Turtles
Chilly waters mean cold-stunned turtles
WELLFLEET — By now, sea turtles, like hundreds of Outer Cape residents, have headed south to dodge the frost. Where these two seasonal populations diverge: reptiles actually paddle out of […]
RECOVERY
Four Days Later, the Carrabassett Is Floated off Longnook Beach
Why it ran aground and what its removal will cost are still unknowns
TRURO — “There was a burst of spontaneous applause as the boat started to move,” said Brewster photographer and artist Steve Kennedy, who was among about 100 people at Longnook […]
