Sunday, April 19, 2020

Mid-April Snow Storm in Provincetown Actually Brought a Pleasant Tranquility

Looking beyond the clothesline to gardening pots at the edge of the snowy forest.
About 6:15 this morning I awoke to about an inch of snow on the ground and in the trees, giving a sort of surreal, black-and-white look to the patch of forest where my back yard ends. The only bits of color visible today, in this normally verdant scene of green grasses and treetops against a bright blue sky, were now just the row of big clay pots and the barely-yellowish birdbath at the back of my yard, which lies just along the edge of a lovely, tiny patch of conservation lands.
The sun was up, but invisible behind the thick layer of clouds that were slowly dropping huge, wet snowflakes over Provincetown and beyond. I watched for about 40 minutes as snowflakes the size of tiddlywinks, (remember those?) and even a few poker chips, drifted silently down to cover my back yard in about an inch of whiteness that felt a bit surreal, but somehow kind of comforting, even soothing.
I knew I wasn't going out in it, so I didn't resent this mid-April (and hopefully the last) snowfall in PTown till next winter. It actually made my day a little better somehow, and I'll take all of these little bits of serenity I can get these days.
Stay hopeful, stay safe, and, please, stay indoors. You can still enjoy the view.

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

April Fools Day in Provincetown

What's wrong with this picture? Enter to win a great prize from a great PTown eatery.
There's something odd about this photo, taken on a busy summer day along the streets of Provincetown. If you can spot what's wrong with this picture you'll win a prize from a great Provincetown restaurant, deli, takeout, clam shack, pizza joint or other fine eatery..
It's easy to enter; all you have to do is leave a text or voice message with your name and phone number, along with your answer, by dialing 617 283-1003, or e-mail theyearrounder@gmail.com, or send by snail -mail to TheYearRounder, P O Box 1632, Provincetown, MA, 02657 before the deadline. Entries must be received, by any of these means, before 12:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time on April 30th, 2020.
Don't worry… you will never end up on an e-mail list or land on a telemarketer's clipboard by contacting TheYearRounder. You'll just be notified if you win something.
If more than one correct answer is received before the deadline, the winner will be chosen in a random drawing from ALL CORRECT ENTRIES received ON TIME. Then all on-time entries, even those with the wrong answer will be combined in a big hat, and another prize will be awarded! Any entry judged(by me!) to be really funny, will count as a correct answer, and be included in that drawing, as well as any possible random drawing. That means you don't even have to be right to win this April Fool's contest, you just have to enter, unless, of course, there's only one correct answer submitted on time, which would automatically win, and then be entered into any possible random drawing as well. You can enter as many times as you'd like between now and the deadline.


I think my all time favorite April Fools joke is still the BBC effort above, just 1:30 in length, so take a look. it shpild be followed by anothe brief film about how they did it. You can also see it by clicking on this link: Penguins April Fool - The Making Of - BBC

  Click this link to the see BBC 1957 "spaghetti tree"

The program Panorama, BBC's public affairs program, was broad cast as an April Fools joke in 1957, still worth a giggle today when you think about how many people believed it, or were offended by it.