One morning in that blurry week between Christmas and New Years I went for an early morning walk on the beach. There’d been a full moon and the high tide that accompanied that and the sand was filled with shells, twists of seaweed and a multitude of beaten up and well worn feathers. The sky was that silvery shade of blue we get when the sun feels pale and watery and the sea was nearly white from glare and spark...

January Is Human Trafficking Awareness Month January begins the year with Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Cape Cod PATH (People Against Trafficking Humans), a non-profit under the umbrella of the Cape Cod Foundation, is a task force on the frontline in addressing this pervasive human rights issue. The reality is that there are more people enslaved today than at any time in history. Across the globe, an e...

In the charming 1987 rom-com movie “Roxanne,” a tongue-tied young firefighter is unable express his romantic feelings for a beautiful woman. Step in Steve Martin, who ghostwrites love letters of such eloquence that the woman falls in love with the firefighter. Jill Meyer of Chatham, who founded the wedding service company “Write Weddings,” has performed that same magic. A Washington, D.C. man contacted her and...

In the days before the ongoing pandemic reached Cape Cod's shores, if you swung by the Hot Chocolate Sparrow on a sunny afternoon when the weather was warm, you'd likely find Roger Boucher working in one of his sketchbooks. A closer look, however, reveals impressively detailed drawings that could easily find their way into a local gallery. Boucher, an Orleans native, has been drawing since he was a little boy,...

After the wind and rain of a winter storm, the beach was quiet and empty. Seaweed and seashells had been tossed about and gulls in dull winter plumage watched me warily from their spots on the upper beach as they waited for the tide to turn. There wasn’t a sound except the slush of the waves against the sand. The sky was full of fat clouds tinged with lavender and the raw, damp cold seeped in though every openi...

They start chattering long before the sun comes up. Their roost is outside my window and I know they are plotting the best ways to raid the feeders the minute the light rises in the sky. Down the street and across the way, another group is restlessly waiting, their whines a little more subtle in the dawn than they will be later in the morning. By the time the sun is up, my feeders are humming with...

Can you dance a classical ballet and still abide by all the COVID-19 protocols? The Reaching Heart School of Ballet in West Harwich was determined to give it a try for their headline production of a perennial Christmas favorite, “The Nutcracker.” The result is a fully costumed 90-minute virtual production complete with movie-like effects premiering online Christmas night. Like many ballet schools and compan...

Walking the beach after a storm full of wind is always interesting. Add a surging high tide that pushes beyond usual boundaries and you never know what you might find where. There are the usual piles of seaweed, driftwood, shells of all kinds and the broken shells of horseshoe crabs as well as true crabs. There may be a dead fish or two, even dead sea birds half buried in wet sand. There could be feathers and odd...

With wintry weather upon us and many in-person holiday events canceled, the opportunity to spend a screen-free evening enjoying quality original family-friendly entertainment is something we're all fishing for. Look no farther than Cape Noir Radio Theater's “The Starfish And The Fisherman,” an original and entirely charming fable which weaves magic, wonder and Greek myth into a story of adventure and danger in wh...

NORTH EASTHAM - For nearly two decades, Nauset Regional High School teacher Lisa Brown has made annual visits to Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, with members of the school’s Human Rights Academy. Once there, the group boards a ferry and travels roughly 10 miles to the island of La Gonave, where they are greeted by locals with access to transportation. Depending on the size of Nauset’s traveling party, th...

On the afternoon of Nov. 13, a Friday, Jan Hopkins of Harwich logged into a Facebook group called “Chatham Spread the Word,” and made an unusual offer. She said she would make “memory bears” from a lost loved one’s clothing as keepsakes. She would not charge for her services but she asked that the recipient donate time or money to the Chatham Angel Fund or the Chatham Food Pantry. The reaction to her offer ...

The spirit of giving is going strong this year at The Family Pantry, and Executive Director Christine Menard couldn't be more pleased. “I'm so psyched!” she simply said, expressing what every Family Pantry supporter feels as the generosity of the season ensures access to healthy, nutritious meals will continue for those in need in our community. Just as November's generous $20,000 matching donation given by a...