Saturday, November 26, 2016

PTown Lobster Pot Tree Lights Up Tonight

Provincetown's famous Lobster Pot Christmas Tree  dominates
Lopes Square, lighting up for the holiday season tonight at 5:30.
10 years ago artist Julian Popko had an idea for a holiday display he wanted to build in the heart of Provincetown. In a nod to the local fishing community he assembled a sort of Christmas tree from actual, working lobster traps, called lobster pots, stacked in a pyramid.
112 of them are layered between sheets of plywood to stabilize the structure, which now rises around the giant anchor in Lopes Square every holiday season.
I'm writing this around noon on Saturday, as this year's festive structure is being finished, and I'm watching the process online at www.provincetown view.com, the webcam trained on Lopes Square. Folks are climbing this giant work of art, putting the last details in place for the lighting ceremony tonight, which we're all invited to attend.
Typically, cookies and hot cocoa are served while people gather, waiting to see the lights come on, illuminating the Lobster Pot Tree for the season. This annual event is scheduled tonight at 5:30 PM, when the "tree topper" of lobster buoys and lights will be lowered into place, lighting this charming display. You'll want to get there early to get a good vantage spot and enjoy the refreshments.
These 112 lobster pots are on loan from local lobstermen, decorated with 120 bright red bows and 46 red plastic lobsters, not to mention the 3,400 lights that will light up this giant sculpture nightly through January. If you can't make it this evening, you can find several YouTube videos of a Lobster Pot Tree lighting from various years gone by. You'll also enjoy this spot by day or by night, simply by walking past Lopes Square, where Standish Street and Commercial Street meet.
With the Pilgrim Monument lighting the night before Thanksgiving every year, and the Lobster Pot Tree lighting the following Saturday, PTown officially kicks off the holiday season. Come join us!

Friday, November 18, 2016

Jimmy's HideAway Brings Winter Tavern Menu to PTown

Jimmy's HideAway is worth looking for.
Jimmy's HideAway begins offering their winter tavern menu this week, available Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays through February 18th. They're shifting to seasonal hours, taking Mondays and Tuesdays off.
The tavern menu features casual favorites at a good price, like the HideAway Burger (Angus beef) with hand cut fries, for $12.95. There's also a Pale Ale Battered Haddock, with cole slaw and fries.
The Shrimp Florentine combines baby spinach, capers, garlic, lemon and white wine, all tossed with linguine. The Spicy BBQ Ribs are roasted long and slow, served with cole slaw and your choice of French fries or Jimmy's amazing Smoked Gouda Corn Bread Pudding, my personal favorite. If you find yourself really ravenous, order the fries with your ribs, and a side of that corn bread pudding.
It's always tough to choose what to order at Jimmy's. I try to eat something different wherever I go, so I can tell you about more great dishes, but it's so hard not to order, for example, the mini Beef Wellingtons, every time I'm there, because that's one of the really great appetizers of Provincetown, served in portions that are meant to be shared. There are ten more salads and appetizers.
Among Jimmy's selection of entrées, ranging from $22 to $38, you'll find French Citrus Bouillabaisse, Grilled Fillet Mignon Au Poivre, Portuguese Cod, and a half-dozen others, including another favorite of mine: Pork Tenderloin is roasted with onion, mushroom, white wine, lemon and rosemary, all of which make for a delightful, savory pan gravy ladled over mashed potatoes, served with sautéed vegetables.
Find Jimmy's HideAway at 179 Commercial Street in Provincetown, tucked away down a charming little brick path, then down a few stairs, to this cozy, garden level restaurant, with a view of the harbor through the tall seagrass surrounding the back dining room. Call 508•487•1011 for reservations (recommended,) though seating is sometimes available at the bar, where Jimmy himself will pour you a beer or whip you up a delightful cocktail.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Post-election Challenges - Like Just Feeling Normal Again

Regardless of the election outcome, we are stronger together!
I'm still kind of paralyzed after the election last week, but one thing we can all do to feel more normal again, and maybe even hopeful, is to grab a friend or two, go out for coffee or a nice dinner, and begin talking about what's next.
We can begin to make plans about how we're going to fight to hang on to advances made over the last few years, and tactics we can use to head off attacks on the rights and treatment of people of color, women, LGBTQ people, immigrants, students, inmates, low income families and all of the other minorities and groups that stand to lose significant ground under this combative new administration.
And don't forget about the planet. Earth issues aren't likely to be a priority for our new government if we don't keep these topics in the forefront and influence policy wherever we can. It is now more important than ever to think globally and act locally, all the while keeping pressure on federal officials to do right by the planet. Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? Yeah, it is!
Happily, my governmental representatives in Massachusetts vote exactly the way I would want them to, nearly all of the time. But that doesn't let me off the hook. I'm going to need to spend a little more time watching what's going on in other states and jurisdictions, and participating when I can, signing petitions, writing letters, and writing checks when I'm able, too, to support folks elsewhere who are working on issues I care about.
We'll all have to become insistent on having our priorities upheld by elected officials, even in other parts of the country, which may require more of our time, money and sheer determination to keep us stepping forward rather than backward, and to minimize potential losses in these next four years.
We vote with our dollars whenever we buy any product. I'm going to become more informed about who makes the products I buy, and what public policies their profits support. Impacting a company's bottom line is a very effective way to get their attention and to influence change, and together, we can do that.
Just by resolving to become more active and informed, to continue to fight the good fight and support others in that same effort, and to engage people of differing views wherever possible, I'm beginning to feel a tiny bit better. I only cried twice today, so that's already a little progress.
I'm fortunate to live in a place where the impact of the election probably won't feel quite so crushing as it might in other parts of the country, because in Provincetown, everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and I'm now even more grateful for that.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Campaign Button Foretold the 2016 Election Disaster

This campaign button predicted the awful truth of yesterday's Presidential election.
You'll forgive me for not writing for a few days…
I'm laying in a pool of tears, curled up in the fetal position, arms tightly clutching a pillow to my chest for the little comfort it will give me. When I'm able to take nourishment again, I'll find a way to write something.
Of course, that will be difficult, what with my head exploded and all.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Provincetown's Famous Soup Kitchen Reopens Monday for 2016 Season

SKIP volunteers serve up a warm welcome along with a tasty meal, and, of course, their legendary soups!
As much for the feeling of camaraderie and friendship as for a great bowl of soup, folks will begin flocking to the Soup Kitchen In Provincetown (SKIP) on Monday, November 7th. Their 25th season providing nutritious, hot meals and a sense of community for Outer Cape residents will begin around noon that day, as a crowd begins to gather in the dining hall of Provincetown's United Methodist Church.
Lunch won't begin until 12:30 PM, as usual, but there will be plenty of folks hugging, handshaking and conversing with friends they may not have seen for months, since the Soup Kitchen closed for the season at the end of last April. People always gather early and stay late, talking with friends and socializing a bit, which is equally as important as having the meal itself.
Every weekday from now until April 28th, SKIP will be serving lunch from 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM at the Methodist Church, at 20 Shank Painter Road. They serve about 80 meals on the average day, so if you do the math, you'll realize that amounts to a figure somewhere around 10,000 meals prepared and served by volunteers during their annual six-month season.
There is no charge for this hearty lunch, and everyone is welcome. Many diners are regulars who come from other Outer Cape towns to mingle, converse and enjoy a meal together. It's easy to become isolated in the solitude of the off-season on Cape Cod. Many also depend on this wonderful community resource to help make ends meet at a time of year when a lot of us have little or no income.
Come and join us in ushering in the new season for our wonderful Soup Kitchen.