Something we learned this week that surprised us: holiday season is not the most common time for people to take their own lives. Spring is the time of year most suicides occur; experts say it's because the hope that the season evokes can accentuate feelings of despair, and many prone to such feelings may be depleted coming out of the dark winter months. Certainly, however, the holidays are a difficult time for...

Gun Comment Was No Joke Editor: I was surprised to hear a member of the Chatham Conservation Commission state at a recent meeting that the commissioners needed guns (“glocks,” he said, which are semi-automatic weapons) in order to fulfill their role in dealing with property owners. When an associate questioned his comment, he stated, “It was a joke.” At the school where I teach – and I think this is true of...

To retire or not retire – that is the question, to which I speedily and emphatically replied, “No brainer – retire!” After 23 years at the Harwich Police Department, and years before working as a waitress, dog groomer, corrections officer, nurse’s aide, Teddy bear maker and child care provider and in newspaper editorial, it was time. Some congratulated me on my decision, some comments were cautionary – wh...

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday. Frankly, we're confused about what we're supposed to be doing and when we're supposed to be doing it. Used to be “the silly season” referred to the craziness of summer. Not anymore. With this holiday season well underway, we're not only being bombarded by advertisements everywhere we turn – even at the gas pumps – we're also urged to take advantage of incredible d...

Last Thursday was the quasi-official start of the holiday season, though some stores began displaying Christmas items in October. By now, you may have started your holiday shopping, addressed your greeting cards, decorated your house with colored lights and set up your tree, and are planning the special meals or social events that will occur now through New Year’s Day. I call this annual period the “holiday se...

Let Them Eat Cake Editor: Donald Trump being elected president has me thinking the 61 million who voted for him just love a reality show. Well then, those voters should be in a state of frenzied euphoria over the next four years with the Trumpdashians, oops – I mean the Trumps, calling the White House "home." Given their opulent lifestyle I imagine the Palace of Versailles would be more to their liking, bu...

The holidays are here. It's time to put the divisiveness of the recent campaign season and the disquietude that followed the election behind us, look outside of ourselves and help out our neighbors. This week The Chronicle launches our 13 th annual Helping Neighbors Fund. Throughout the holiday season, we'll be raising funds for The Family Pantry of Cape Cod, the Harwich-based nonprofit organization that prov...

When I get older losing my hair Many years from now Will you still be sending me a valentine Birthday greetings, bottle of wine? If I’d been out till quarter of three Would you lock the door? Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I’m sixty-four?   “When I’m Sixty-Four” was written by Paul McCartney when he was just 16 years old. How thoughts of aging entered his 16 year ol...

Clinton Candidacy Loss From Start Editor: I voted for HRC because I didn't have a choice. However, I'm very happy that she lost the election for a second time, but I'm not happy to whom she lost. Now that it's been decided, why doesn't she stop blaming other people when she, in fact, took no responsibility for the monies in the Foundation and went on as usual, entitled just like her husband. What was her p...

As of early this week, more than four million people had signed an online petition urging Electoral College delegates to vote for the winner of the popular vote in last week's presidential election – Hillary Clinton – rather than Donald Trump, who won a majority of state Electoral votes. This effort is not likely to go anywhere, given the entrenched nature of our presidential election process. But the outpouring ...

She’s 13 now. 13 and a half (and change). But who’s counting? Sofie stands now five foot four inches. That means the child I brought back to Chatham when she was 13 months and grew up amongst us, learning to swim, skate and sail, and earning her black belt, is now less than a foot shorter than me. That seems like a milestone of sorts. The summer population of Chatham was the margin of victory in the state of ...

Only Hire Registered Contractors Editor: Consumers spend millions each year on home improvements. As manager of the state’s Home Improvement Contractor Program, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs sees hundreds of projects go wrong each year, costing homeowners thousands of dollars and leaving them with shoddy or unfinished work. There are four important elements your readers need to know about the...