“Practice makes perfect” or “10,000 hours to become an expert” — we like to believe that if we do something long enough, we conquer it. Then we can set it […]
Visual Stories
HELP LINES
Wellfleet, Taking Cue from Provincetown, Dials In on Mental Health
Community members are on call, so no one has to go it alone
Editor’s note: In the Aug. 6 print edition of the Independent the Well Line’s phone number was incorrect. The correct number has been substituted below. WELLFLEET — “We all have to go […]
ASSESSING THE RISK
New Guidelines for Fall Sports Offer No Guarantees
Soccer teams may play games, but for football the picture is clouded
Fall sports will most likely be much different than ever before this coming season. The Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) officially voted on July 15 to move the start date […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 4, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Oblivious Whale Nearly Takes Out My Friend
Vaughn Cabral’s close encounter with a cetacean
In last week’s column, I wrote that I thought I had seen it all, only to watch a man with a scuba mask dive off his paddleboard to swim with […]
WORKOUT WOES
With Gyms Reopened, Fitness Buffs Work Off Their ‘Covid-19’
In Provincetown, no pain meant unwanted gain
PROVINCETOWN — It happened just weeks ago, when he was shopping: Lorenzo Wigfall pulled on a pair of jeans and realized — to his horror — that it was too […]
COCKTAIL HOUR
Blueberry Lemonade With a Bite
Summer fruit cocktails that aren’t at all cloying
The fleeting joy of summer is something we wait for all year here on the Outer Cape and, yet, it is almost gone before we know it. Right now, August […]
PLANTCRAFT
Plant Matter to Dye For
Mix solar rays and garden clippings for earthy fabric hues
Solar dyeing starts with a gathering: deadheaded blooms, freshly unfurled petals, bright green leaves. Dyer’s Coreopsis, Queen Anne’s lace, and Rudbeckia. My garden shears make quick work of the task. […]
GALLERY
Hustle and Flow
‘This Old’ new Eastham house is full of ideas
Collaboration among innovators, designers, builders, and television executives built the 2020 This Old House Idea House, the first of its kind on Cape Cod. It started with a design by […]
GALLERY
The Making of Two New Habitat Houses in Wellfleet
Handmade quilts, granite counters, neighbor-friendly porches, and teamwork make houses into homes for two families
The July 21 dedication ceremony for two new Cape Cod Habitat for Humanity homes in Wellfleet was virtual, but still celebratory, marking the culmination of a construction effort that started […]
BEEKEEPING
Bee Yard Basics
What your neighbor’s boxes, stones, smoke, and other gear are all about
Deep into summer, beekeeping on the Outer Cape is mostly a waiting game. The queen has been laying since April; the hive population is perhaps 60,000. Though we’re in a […]
KITCHEN TABLE
How to Make a Fish Face
A landlocked Okie ventures beyond fish fingers
Growing up in Oklahoma I could never have imagined eating a fish with the head still on. Like most Americans in landlocked states, when I was a kid, I expected […]
CROSSWORD #12
Race to the Finish
The July puzzle from Sophia Maymudes. Need some answers? We send out the solution in our Friday newsletter. You’ll find the signup for our newsletter right here on our home […]
OUTER CAPE PORTRAIT
Just One Novel
CLEMENTINE VALTZ / STUDENT & WRITER / WELLFLEET Clementine Valtz decided, as a junior, to apply to college. If accepted, she would skip her senior year at Nauset Regional High […]
BASEBALL
Dan Okrent Is the Father of Fantasy
The inventor of Rotisserie League Baseball on its strange legacy
Major League Baseball (MLB) returned to play last week with no fans in the ballparks but plenty of people watching on TV from their living room couches. Some of those […]
