Recalling the horoscope from the week of America’s national election, we knew even then that Uranus would play a disruptive role until just before Inauguration Day, when it will station […]
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, Jan. 12, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
CROSSWORD #17
Turn Up The Heat
Need some answers? Just ask and we’ll send them.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Eastham 911 Dispatcher Retires After 32 Years
Julie Austin, who dealt with ‘just about everything,’ steps down from longtime position
EASTHAM — Firefighters get trucks and hoses; police officers, cuffs; EMTs, those screaming sirens. But 911 dispatchers? To them goes little glitz, little drama, still less recognition. The job may […]
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Covid Halts Wellfleet’s MLK Walk
Voices and artworks will still speak out on racism
WELLFLEET — Following months of racial reckoning inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this was supposed to be a big year for Wellfleet’s 18-year-old Martin Luther King Day observance […]
HOPE IN A VIAL
Long-Awaited Covid Inoculations Begin for Health Workers
A sense of hope, a little guilt, and renewed optimism
PROVINCETOWN — Dr. Andrew Jorgensen received a much-hoped-for gift just before Christmas this year, in the form of an initial dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. He’s on track for […]
POST-HOLIDAY HOW TO
The Art of the Handwritten Thank You
It’s like sending a hug with words
“Gratitude.” I feel like this word has taken on such power in recent times. I know I am not alone in trying to make being mindfully thankful a daily practice. […]
THE KIDS COOK
Acorn Flour-Thickened Beef Stew
A dinner that starts with gathering nuts outdoors
Last fall, I taught a foraging class for Wellfleet Elementary School students. We gathered once a week, after school, rain or shine, and headed out into the woods with no […]
PLAYING IN A PANDEMIC
Nauset Winter Sports Teams Eager to Compete
Some games are already postponed in an uncertain season
EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School boys ice hockey team lost its first game of the season to the Nantucket Whalers 3-0 on Saturday, Jan. 2. Though it was […]
NAVIGATING BY THE STARS
When There’s a New Moon in Conscientious Capricorn
Intend to be diligent, dutiful, and not so dour
The Sun and Moon meet in Capricorn this week for the first new Moon of the new year. When setting intentions for a new Moon, consider the qualities of the […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 5, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
HOMESTEADING
Could She, Would She Give You Goat’s Milk?
It’s not easy to make a match for your backyard doe
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 […]
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 […]