For some people, chickens are a gateway farm animal. You start out with a backyard flock. The fresh eggs are nice. So, you start thinking about producing something else, maybe […]
Visual Stories
ENVIRONMENT
Outer Cape Gets First Taste of Septic ‘Layer Cake’
Experimental leach field could reduce nitrogen in Nauset estuary
EASTHAM — The town and a volunteer property owner, Peter Dobyns, are participating in a wastewater treatment experiment that could alter the finances of controlling nitrogen contamination. The experimental […]
GALLERY
House to House on Bound Brook Island
Exploring the past on a walk in the woods
Following the roads and paths of Wellfleet’s Bound Brook Island, you’ll find hillsides covered with bearberry and stands of winterberry along the now-still tidal brook below. There are houses, too […]
SQUID’S EYE VIEW
New Verse for the Ballad of the Color-Blind Squid
Astrophysicists offer insights to teuthologists
It seems fitting at the end of this year to find oneself humming “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” “Don’t let the past remind us of what we are not now….” Stephen […]
WORKOUT WOES
As Mass. Locks Down, Walks Are the New Squats
Gyms face reduced capacity, but not much changes
PROVINCETOWN — As statewide Covid-19 rates spiked last week, Gov. Charlie Baker tightened pandemic restrictions from the Boston State House. Designed to tamp down the carnage of the holiday 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. 29, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
KITCHEN TABLE
Mussels for the New Year
Eastham mussels and andouille are the secrets to a smoky, spicy Truro stew
The mussel stew we’ve been enjoying forever is a good one: Portuguese-style with linguiça, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. A Cape Cod staple. But over the years we’ve tinkered with the […]
MOVEMENT
The Real Elastic Fantastic
Use resistance bands to make your muscles work in new and different ways
Surprise, surprise: working out at home is predicted to be one of the biggest fitness trends of 2021. Already in this year, finding strength training equipment has been a challenge. […]
NAVIGATING BY THE STARS
The Full Moon Settles In at Home
But it’s also in the sign of emergence, so get ready to bloom
Finally, this year of folly finishes with a full Moon in the watery sign of Cancer, the Moon’s zodiacal domicile. Ruler of the realms of home and family, Cancer is […]
GRAVEYARD SHIFT
The Brothers Dyer: A Provincetown Family of Captains
Lives lived and lost by the sea
PROVINCETOWN — In January 1868, during the heyday of Provincetown’s whaling era, the Barnstable Patriot noted in a small item, halfway down column two on page two, that four whaling […]
DAY 286
The Stay-at-Home School Vacation Week
Ideas for getting outdoors, ditching the screen, and connecting in the kitchen
On Christmas Eve, it will have been 286 days since social distancing became our new normal and our school, work, and home lives merged into one, sometimes overly close, space. […]
BOUGHS
An Outer Cape Storybook Christmas
Handmade ornaments bring back memories of school at Rudelle’s
In winters past, Rudelle Falkenburg’s Storybook School was a regular Santa’s workshop of handmade ornaments. Many families still lovingly unpack these decorations each year, and, with them, sweet memories. “We […]
THE CLAUS COVID CHRONICLES
Encountering Santa in a Fraught Season
It’s not just about naughty and nice
TRURO — Santa Claus is used to tough questions. How, demanded one junior superfan, did Santa know to bequeath him a Star Wars figurine? Well, said Glenn Enos, a sergeant […]
HARDER THEY FALL
Local Pats Fans Face Losing Season
Patriots miss playoffs for first time in 12 years
In a reality check for fans, the New England Patriots face an uncertain future. The Pats lost this past Sunday to the Miami Dolphins, 22-12, bringing the team’s record to […]
FROM THE LARDER
A Magical Winter Elixir for a Lazy Afternoon
Homemade chicken stock flavors a rich risotto dinner
If you were to stop by my kitchen (were stopping by still allowed), you’d likely find a pot of stock murmuring gently on a back burner. Last spring, when everyone […]
