There’s a blaze in the fireplace of the south lounge at the Chatham Bars Inn. The decor is tasteful and boasts big comfy chairs and lots of wood. It’s quiet except for the murmur of low voices in conversation. There is a small portable bar which seems to be the focus of the room. About 15 people drift in, a waiter unobtrusively serves a cocktail or two, strangers greet one another. The mood is “casua...

CHATHAM – For the 10 years between 2005 and 2015, Tony Ntumba was a translator and photojournalist for the United Nations in his native country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Fluent in six languages, he was the first person out of a U N helicopter, the chief means of transportation due to jungle conditions, ready to reassure the people of a village that this “group of white men” were there to help them....

There was a time not long ago when fishermen tried to get rid of big-jawed, sharp-toothed prehistoric-looking monkfish by kicking them out the scuppers. Now they steam 100 miles in often ugly weather to find them, bringing up thousands of pounds in weighted gillnets. “It makes up a fair part of my year, about a third of my income,” said Nick Muto, captain of the Dawn T. The fat-headed brown angler fish c...

If you’ve battled the flu and all its accompanying feverish and respiratory joys, you have a pretty good idea what my last week was like. But here I am, mostly recovered and ready to head out the door again. While I was sick, I had many hours to read quietly, stare out my window and try to find something to watch that didn’t bore me to death or upset me. I ended up reading. A lot. Since I couldn’t get out i...

When Dr. Michael Thompson asks sixth graders if their parents asked about them their friends in the past few days, 98 percent raise their hands. Just a generation or two ago, fewer parents, if any, would have asked that question on a regular basis. “This is a very anxious generation of parents,” said Thompson, a psychologist, author, lecturer and consultant who specializes in children and families. Parents tod...

Travel seems to be part of our universal experience as mobile organisms. We are on the move as soon as we can scoot or crawl across the ground. Baby animals and birds move as soon as they are able as well. Some of us move around close to home all our lives, but many of us feel the need to move well beyond our own dens, nests or backyards.  Today, humans don’t have to travel for survival as they once did, at...

There’s a place where I’ve walked for over 50 years. Yes, it’s true, I’m ancient. I’ve seen this spit of beach change a lot in all those years. I learned to swim there. My children learned to swim there and my grandchildren swim there now. I’ve seen sunrises and sunsets, bad days and good days. I’ve walked any number of dogs there that began as puppies and ended up as grizzled, arthritic, old dogs.  O...

Sara Sneed is a star twice over. She is a star baker and she is a star on many of the community theater stages of Cape Cod. And now she is an award-winning star. Born and raised in Kansas, Sneed began singing with her church choir at 4 years old and performed on stage in “Peter Pan” when she was 8. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with a bachelor of arts degree in vocal performance and earned a m...

With the holidays behind us, we've closed the books on the Chronicle's 2018 Helping Neighbors campaign, and it was a resounding success. Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, Cape Cod Chronicle readers donated more than $40,000 to the Family Pantry of Cape Cod. While it fell short of its ambitious $60,000 goal, the holiday campaign nonetheless provided the Pantry with a financial boost at an important time. ...

A series of exhibits featuring artists from around the Cape will brighten Friday nights this winter. For the second year, Chatham Bars Inn will host a Winter Art Series, with receptions every Friday night from Jan. 18 through March 29 at the Shore Road resort's Garden Suite. The events happen from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public. The series is designed to both showcase area artists and...

As the holidays fade in the rearview mirror, a whole new landscape full of opportunities awaits us. Each day we choose where to focus our attention. A new year gives us a chance to see how we spent our attention last year, and how we might change at least some of that this year. Winter on Cape Cod is a lovely time to consider and contemplate the things that are important to us. There is a stark beauty in leafl...

HARWICH – There's something different about learning at Harwich Elementary School. Once a week it goes to the dogs, and the teachers, students, and even the visiting pups couldn't be happier about it. Each Friday a pair or more of tail-wagging, soft and fluffy therapy dogs trots along just ahead of their owners, ready for quick classroom visits before a longer stop in the school's reading room, where students ...