PTown's Celebrity Chef Appears Tonight on the Food Network

Central House Executive Chef Michele Ragussis is smack in the center of this
photo from the Food Network website, showing the seven chefs vying for a
second chance to become the next Food Network Star. Watch tonight at 8 PM.

Tonight’s television lineup will find Michele Ragussis, Executive Chef of the Central House at the Crown & Anchor, appearing on Food Network Star: Comeback Kitchen, vying for her second chance to compete with other chefs, food writers, caterers and culinary enthusiasts, one of whom will go on to compete in the coming season of the regular series, (season number 12) and perhaps even to become the next “Food Network Star.”

Tonight at 8 PM eastern time, seven former competitors from previous seasons return to cook again, and to once again show us all the poise, personality and kitchen know-how they can muster as the judges select, over these next three weeks, just one competitor to join 12 others in the 12^th season of Food Network Star, where one of those 13 will earn the opportunity to host their own series on the Food Network.

In tonight’s first “comeback” episode, hosts Valerie Bertinelli and Tyler Florence challenge the competitors to redeem themselves by making a dish that haunts them from their first competitions. Each will also shoot a one-minute video telling us where they’ve landed and how they've improved their dishes. This is also a chance to display a more polished on-camera persona than some might have presented the first time around. Based on both their food and videos, the least-improved alumnus will be eliminated once again.

Michele, who is in her 2^nd year heading up the Central House kitchen, appeared in season 8, and hints that there may be “some drama” in this brief, three-week run leading up to the regular series. She will be joined on the show by Briana Jenkins from Atlanta, who appeared in season 6; Penny Davidi, Los Angeles, season 7; Chris Kyler, Fredericksburg, Virginia, season 10; Dominick Tesoriero, Staten Island, New York, season 11; Martita Jara, San Diego, season 8; Matthew Grunwald, Scottsdale, Arizona, season 11.

You can watch the first episode tonight from home, or join the festivities along with the 8PM viewing at the Central House, 247 Commercial Street, in the Crown & Anchor complex. Go early to get a good seat to watch the show, and to have a nice dinner, particularly if you’ve never had Michele’s wonderful food. If you miss it, this episode will be rebroadcast at 3 AM eastern time, and again at 4PM on Thursday, May 12^th. And even though this series has already been taped, we can't help but wish Michele good luck. She is a terrific chef, and her warm personality and easy charm make her a real contender for the title of Food Network Star.

What's Wrong With This Picture? Happy April Fool's Day

What's wrong with this postcard of Pilgrim Lake, published in Provincetown
somewhere around the 1910s? Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Click on the photo at the left to enlarge this antique postcard, published around the year 1912 by The Advocate, which was by far Provincetown's leading purveyor of postcards in the early 20th Century.
Have a good look and notice just how many things seem a little out of whack in this picture...

During this era, color on a postcard was achieved by having an artist hand-tint an existing black-and-white photograph, and seems often to have been done by someone who may not actually have seen the subject. Flowers or trees, for example, were often painted in by an artist, to add interest to a scene, or puffy clouds were painted into a sky just too turquoise to be real. Just such a postcard artist once spruced up a photo of our Town Hall by giving it a red roof. Yikes!
Keep in mind that these were the days long before computers and Photoshop. That word became a verb back in the 1990s as nearly everyone could easily alter any digital image, enhance colors, or even combine elements from many photos to create a whole new picture, as long as they could afford the software. But I'm always amazed to find early images that have clearly been altered, with a single photograph often given several incarnations by various publishers, with the cut-and-paste technique tediously done by hand a hundred years ago.
See how many questionable things you might notice in this postcard, and then enter TheYearRounder's annual April Fool's Contest by sending an e-mail message to theyearrounder@wildglobe.com, or leave a voice or text message by phone. Just dial 42423-PTOWN (424 237-8696) by 2 AM on April 10th, 2016. The winner (decided by a random drawing from all timely entries if there is a tie) will be treated to something good to eat, courtesy of a great Provincetown restaurant. As usual, a prize or two may also be awarded randomly, for no particular reason at all, so you don't even have to be right to win a prize. You just have to enter on time. Happy April Fool's.

See Hawthorne's Artwork at Town Hall

Charles W. Hawthorne's painting Crew of the Philomina Manta

The painter Charles W. Hawthorne was pretty much the founder of the early art movement in Provincetown, establishing the Cape Cod School of Art here in 1899.
Most of Hawthorne's works that are probably familiar to the public seem to be those done in darker shades, depicting hard-working fishermen engaged in their daily activities, or often young boys going through their rights of passage into that same world.
Probably the best known of all of these paintings is found in the heart of Provincetown, at Town Hall. The Crew of the Philomina Manta hangs at the far end of the hallway that leads between the town offices, toward the Judge Welsh Room. Stop in and notice the perceptive way the artist gets the feelings of these men onto the canvas. The expressions on their faces, and Hawthorne's attention to detail, are remarkable.

Piano Lessen by Charles W. Hawthorne

I also recently found a number of his paintings of women engaged in more domestic pursuits like sewing, or looking after the children, or giving music lessons, but without seeming sexist or stereotyped. He portrayed people of all sorts, caught in moments of their daily routines, engaged in the activities that ran the lives of Provincetown residents in the early 1900s.
Here's a link to 24 Hawthorne Paintings I found on an absolutely amazing blog called It's About Time, where I began to discover paintings that portrayed women and children in the daily moments of their lives (not just the men) with a surprising number of wives, mothers, daughters, and young boys, wielding buckets of fish. It seemed that everyone here in the early twentieth century was involved in the industry that supported this little village and fed it as well, with fish as prominent characters in so many of Hawthorne's paintings.

Hawthorne's painting The Fishwife

In upcoming posts I'll bring you more of the remarkable character studies that are Hawthorne's works. I've unearthed dozens that I had never seen before, and I'll be sharing them with you on these pages. Meanwhile, stop by Town Hall and find the Hawthornes that grace the main hallway there, and enjoy the work of one of America's foremost artists and teachers.

On This Day in 1887 - The First Annual Groundhog Day is Celebrated

This plaque at Gobbler's Knob, in Punxsutawney, PA, elucidates the lore of
Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day, celebrated every February 2nd

Remember what it was like around this time last year? We were still getting several inches of snow, several times a week, with no end in sight. It started out just like this winter did, with all of that uncharacteristically mild weather for weeks, but then we got clobbered with that first blizzard, followed by another, and another…
I won't mention what mild weather we've had this winter, lest we be cursed with constant, dreadful storms to finish off the "off-season" with a bang. Suffice it to say we've made it through January, generally the coldest month in Provincetown winters, without too much fuss, and if grand prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow today at Gobbler's Knob, then we're out of the woods, so to speak.

Contributed photo/Groundhog Day Inner Circle

No such luck. Checking the forecast, it looks like western Pennsylvania will be sunny all morning long, with thermometers reaching 46 degrees today, and zero chance of rain, so Phil will no doubt see his shadow.
According to groundhog legend and lore, that will mean that America is doomed to six more weeks of winter rather than an early spring. But if this winter continues the way it has been going, I won't mind.
Going out in a sweater instead of an overcoat has been just my cup of tea this season, and although this warm weather is actually terrible for the planet, it's been good for my spirits, and I figure that even if it starts snowing tonight and doesn't stop until April, we'll still break even compared to last winter. As of now, we're scheduled for at least another 9 or 10 days of warm weather before temperatures dip.

By the way, Punxsutawney Phil's winter weather predictions in the last decade or two have been correct just under half of the time, with a score of 13 to 15. Learn a few other groundhog facts by watching just a few moments of useless Groundhog Day trivia, with its very dramatic musical score, produced by USA Today.

Just like we do for certain Provincetown events, Punxsutawney's population of 5,500 residents "look forward" with mixed emotions to the 10,000 to 12,000 visitors that flock to their town for this annual celebration, with more arriving whenever Groundhog Day falls on the weekend. A few other cities have now come up with characters of their own to forecast predictions for the end of winter, with events growing year by year.
People love any excuse to come to PTown to celebrate, even in the dead of winter, as evidenced by the great success of our First Light celebration over New Years. What sort of mascot might Provincetown come up with to expand a bit on the few parties here that already celebrate this groundhog's "holiday?"
Regardless of the kind of weather we have over these next six weeks, I think I can count on at least one positive thing, for sure… I won't ever have to look up how to spell Punxsutawney again. By George, I think I've got it!

Can Anyone Identify this PTown Location?

Can you identify this spot? Help me if you can.

Does Anyone recognize this spot, or know the name "The Bars" as the title of this postcard reads? Printed a bit faintly in the upper right corner of the card is "c. 710 The Bars, Provincetown, Mass." I've never seen, nor even heard of this place, which certainly doesn't mean that it didn't exist, but I find it curious. For one thing, there aren't a lot of tree-covered hillsides around town, as seen toward the back of this view.
In my vast collection of photo and postcard images of Provincetown and its history, there are a number that were incorrectly labeled by the publisher, and I'm wondering if this is another of those. That doesn't seem very likely, though, since the publisher was the Advocate, the venerable Provincetown publisher that put out the weekly town paper of the same name, and also ran what may have been the largest postcard operation on Cape Cod, publishing their own cards.

Now Waydowntown, the old Advocate Building is still quite charming.

There was another building, attached at the back of 265 Commercial Street, where the newspaper was printed, but most of the postcards of that era were printed in Germany, owing to the superior quality of prints achieved by the skillful Germans and their very advanced presses. The early Advocate postcards were no exception.
Boston architect T. M. Sargent designed the storefront with rather oversized windows to show off the cards, newspapers and souvenirs offered to a tourist trade that was already beginning its steady growth by 1911, when this shop was built in the center of town, right across the street from Town Hall. The windows above, made up of a couple of hundred tiny panes, create one of my favorite architectural details on Commercial Street. The decorative woodwork above and below the windows also helps to make this building one of the most charming in town.
For a time the postcard business even seems to have spilled into the next building to the east through a "hyphen," a small addition built between two structures to join them. As it turns out, there are quite a few hyphenated buildings in Provincetown.
At any rate, there's a bit of the history of The Advocate Building, as it was known. Now, back to my question… Does anyone know a spot in Provincetown called the Bars? If so, please leave a comment here, or e-mail theyearrounder@wildglobe.com, or call me at 42423PTOWN. This one has me stumped.

Provincetown Art in Live eBay Auction

This painting of Captain Jack's Wharf is Eldred's lot 128, eBay item 201490889434.

In the off-season, when I have a little time, I spend a good bit of it on eBay looking for things related to PTown. I've recently seen a few listings for something new to me.
I've been noticing artworks that will be sold in live auctions where I could register with the individual sellers and, at the appointed time, I'd compete with bidders attending the auction, along with folks simultaneously bidding by telephone. Sounds exciting!
This framed oil painting of Captain Jack's Wharf will be auctioned off next week, at 10 AM on Saturday, January 23rd, along with 450 other lots, which might be groups of items, or a single item, like this painting. Although it is signed C. B. M., the painter seems to remain unknown. I only found a couple of items in this auction that seem to be specifically related to Provincetown, but there may be more. I didn't look through all 450 lots, but it turns out the seller is Eldred's, on Route 6A in East Dennis, only about 45 miles up the Cape. Other PTown items could easily turn up.
Eldred's has been in the auction, appraisal and consignment business for over 50 years. Other auctions scheduled over the next few months include marine art, which especially catches my interest, and many other items. Since they are nearby, Cape folks might want to attend the actual auction rather than bid online or by phone. If you're away from PTown in the off-season, this could be one more way for you to feel connected to this wonderful community year-round. Click on the link to Eldred's, above, to contact them if all of this sounds like wintertime fun.
Lots next week will include items ranging from artwork to Oriental rugs, along with sterling silver pitchers, flatware and serving pieces and other antiques. One lot includes about 150 pieces of costume jewelry including cufflinks, faux pearl necklaces, brooches, rings, pocket watches and more, with a starting bid of $40. Another lot will be Venetian glass figurines of the Seven Dwarfs.

I like this Robert Wheeler painting of the beach at the edge of the dunes.

Another lot that Cape Codders might find interesting is this 18"X20" oil painting of the beach and dunes, signed by "Robert P. Wheeler ISMP." Is that the International Society of Marine Painters? Of the two-dozen ISMPs I found on the Internet, that one seems most likely. Anyway, I like the painting. It is lot 125, with an $80 opening bid. Here's a link to this Antiques and Accessories auction, and one for eBay's All About Live Auctions page to learn how to bid live, and how to put in an absentee bid, sort of like entering your maximum bid on a regular eBay item.
A buyers premium (a fee paid to the seller) of up to 25 percent of the winning bid will be assessed as well, and you'll also have to pay for shipping, as usual. Be sure to read all the information before bidding, and get registered for this auction in advance. I don't know if I'll end up bidding on anything, but I think I'll register for this particular event anyway, which is required prior to bidding, even if you're already registered with eBay. Following this live auction sounds like fun, whether I bid or not.

Saint Mary's Community Luncheons Brighten Provincetown's Winter

A delicious homestyle meal is served every Saturday thru February at St. Mary's.

The famous weekly community luncheons are back for the winter season at The Church of Saint Mary of the Harbor, at 517 Commercial Street. Every Saturday in the months of January and February this lovely Episcopal Church on the edge of Provincetown Harbor hosts the entire community for a meal and live music at no charge.
Church volunteers prepare and serve a different homestyle meal each Saturday, with several favorites eagerly anticipated sometime during this luncheon season. The winter in Provincetown wouldn't be complete without the appearance of famed recipes by Mary-Jo Avellar, Priscilla Jackett and a number of other great cooks.

Live music accompanies lunch, with singing and dancing encouraged!

Music is presented by musicians from up the street and up the Cape, who relish playing for such an appreciative audience while lunch is served. Song and a variety of instruments can be heard before you even set foot through the doorway to this welcoming hall.
Everyone is invited, so come join the fun every Saturday at 12 noon, thru February.

This Day in Boston, 1896, Fannie Farmer's Cookbook is Published - Still a Best Seller

Fannie Farmer is still America's most famous cook.

Today marks the 120^th anniversary of the singular cookbook that taught generations of Americans how to cook. First published on January 7^th, 1896, as The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer, later on known as Fannie Farmer's Cookbook, this book was much more than a mere collection of hundreds of recipes. It was an educative revolution in cooking.
The book actually sought to teach its readers how to cook, and what to eat. Included in the book were “lessons” on choosing foods and the science behind their best use and preparation. Through studying this book novice cooks could learn why to choose one vegetable over another, what makes milk turn sour, and why the temperature of the oil used in frying was crucial to the outcome of the dish. Simple recipes and instructions taught the basics of good cooking and proper nutrition. For more experienced cooks there were hundreds of more challenging recipes to expand their skills and palates.

Fannie’s book gave detailed instructions on achieving the correct temperature in an iron stove by proper selection of coal, soft wood like pine, and various hardwoods, along with adjusting the flue and damper and controlling the amount of oxygen for precise results. Fannie also taught her readers that there was actual science involved in cooking and baking. She was the first to give instruction on ensuring results by using standardized measuring cups and spoons to accurately measure ingredients.

In 1889 Fannie would graduate from The Boston Cooking School (Boston's first,) which was founded 10 years earlier by the Woman’s Educational Association of Boston in order “to offer instruction in cooking to those who wished to earn their livelihoods as cooks, or who would make practical use of such information in their families.” Fannie studied under Mary J. Lincoln, who researched and wrote Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book: What to Do and What Not to Do in Cooking.

Miss Farmer teaches pupil Martha Hayes Ludden about precise measuring to achieve consistent results.

At The Boston Cooking School, Fannie had begun to understand the association between eating certain foods and maintaining good health. She then took a nutrition course at Harvard Medical School to learn as much as she could about healthful eating and proper preparation of foods. Having been one of the top students at the cooking school, Fannie would become assistant director there shortly after her graduation, and would go on to become head of the school a few years later. Meanwhile, she continued to study food and the science behind cooking at every opportunity.
Fannie began revising and expanding Mrs. Lincoln’s cookbook, building on her teacher’s detailed and methodical approach to recipe writing, and presenting a thorough discussion on the careful measurement of each ingredient in a recipe. In 1896, when Miss Farmer approached the publisher Little, Brown & Company with her book, The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, they didn’t think it would do very well, so they would commit only to printing a limited run of 3,000 copies, and only if Fannie would cover the costs. It turned out to be the best-selling cookbook of the era, with over 4 million copies sold in Fannie's lifetime, and it remains a perennial favorite today. In the 120 years it has been on the shelves, Fannie Farmer's Cookbook has never been out of print.

Fannie Farmer's lectures were very popular despite the 30 cent admission.

After a number of years running The Boston Cooking School, Fannie left in 1902 to open her own Miss Farmer's School of Cookery, also in Boston, aimed toward training housewives rather than household service staff, professional cooks or teachers.
Together with her sister, Cora Farmer Perkins, Fannie also wrote a regular column for the Woman's Home Companion. Her cooking demonstrations and lectures became widely known, costing 30 cents for admission to the morning session and 25 cents in the evenings, as shown in the ad from this unknown periodical. The Boston Evening Transcript published her lectures, which were printed in newspapers all across the country.
In the preface to her cookbook, our Miss Farmer writes “At the earnest solicitation of educators, pupils, and friends, I have been urged to prepare this book, and I trust it may be a help to many who need its aid. It is my wish that it may not only be looked upon as a compilation of tried and tested recipes, but that it may awaken an interest through its condensed scientific knowledge which will lead to deeper thought and broader study of what to eat.”
The book was rather an education in cooking and nutrition, as well as keeping house, all bound in a single volume of 39 chapters, hundreds of pages, and hundreds of recipes from simple sauces and condiments to an elegant 12 course meal. The table of contents alone was 22 pages!

The book has been updated quite a bit from time to time as the field of cooking has evolved, with nearly 900 pages in the current edition, and roughly 1,900 recipes. After all, the way to make a classic veal stock hasn't changed, nor the way to debone a chicken, nor the proportions of flour, sugar and butter in a pound cake. Many of the original recipes remain in the book, unaltered, along with new ones.
I found Fannie Farmer’s recipe for Cape Cod Oatmeal Cookies on several websites, including Just a Pinch Recipes, written by Debby Nelson, who writes “This recipe is from an old Fannie Farmer Cookbook I bought not long after I married. My Dad and my husband loved them so I would make them every year at Christmas and in-between. They are chewy and nourishing. Give them a try!”

I also found these cookies at Lynne Feifer’s 365 Days of Baking and More, where she challenged herself to bake something every day for a year and write about it on the Internet. This recipe also popped up at full tummies, where, for nearly eight years now, someone known only as Betsy has been writing about healthful, nutritious food choices and sharing recipes that “our whole family loves!” Both Lynne and Debby found this excellent, very popular cookie recipe still in the current incarnation, the 13^th edition of Fannie Farmer's Cookbook, which was published 20 years ago, in 1996, celebrating the book’s 100^th anniversary that year.

Click this link to find Fannie’s Last Supper, an excellent video that just may make you want to cook. It's a teaser for the 2007 PBS documentary of the same name, following folks who decided to throw a dinner party recreating the 12 course meal in Fannie's cookbook using only a wood stove to cook on. Now I'm looking for the DVD of that program, because that's something I'd like to see.
In the meantime, I'll settle for a plate of Cape Cod Oatmeal Cookies from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Thank you, Miss Farmer!

New Year's in Provincetown, 2016!

Here's to health, happiness, good luck and prosperity for us all in 2016!

Lavish displays of fireworks usher in the New Year in cities the world over. Click on the following link to see 90 seconds of New Years fireworks from around the world. PTown will enjoy its own fireworks over Provincetown Harbor on Saturday night, scheduled for 5:30 PM. Get to the harbor beaches little early. You'll find free parking this weekend in the municipal parking lots.
There are all kinds of events going on during the First Light Provincetown New Year's Celebration. Please click on the link above to find out about all of the dates, times and locations of so many fun things to do that I can't possibly list them all here. There are still nearly three dozen events, parties, performances, celebrations, venues and lots of great food for all to enjoy during these four days of festivities.
There will be special performances by Suede, Dina Martina and Miss Richfield, 1981, to name just a few. There's a New Year's Day Brunch at the Crown & Anchor. The Polar Bear Plunge will be held on the beach at Harbor Lounge at 2 PM, with free chili to warm you up afterward. There'll be a recovery event tonight at the A-House. Don your best holiday outfit (aren't you glad I didn't say gay apparel!) for Drag Bingo at the Crown on Saturday. There's something for everyone in these town wide celebrations.

The Provincetown Theater will present The Great American Songbook Cabaret with food, drink, comedy and cabaret. There will be live music at Tin Pan Alley and other restaurants and clubs. PAAM offers free admission to their Sip and Sketch event.

Don't miss the holiday fireworks over the Harbor on Saturday night, lighting up the new year for the first time in more than 15 years. You'll see them from anywhere on the harbor side beaches. If you'd like to join a group of folks you can watch the show from the beach with revelers at The Canteen, or from the deck at Spindler's, the new restaurant at 386 Commercial Street, bringing us a sneak-peak of what they have planned for the summer. Tickets for First Light at Spindler's my still be available if you're quick.
To ensure good luck in 2016, visit The Canteen, at 225 Commercial Street, where they'll be serving black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. Eating this traditional dish is said to bring luck and prosperity to all who celebrate the new year with this meal.

The Canteen has extended their season and put together a Holiday Market as a great new PTown winter tradition, emulating the customary winter celebration of food and fun found in open air winter markets of European cities. You'll find local artwork, products and crafts, along with entertainment and lots of food in a welcoming place to warm up and socialize a bit, in the garden behind The Canteen.
Go to canteenholidaymarket.com for more info. The market is open for one last weekend, from 11 AM till 9 PM today and tomorrow, with the last day of the season for The Canteen on Sunday, January 3rd.
All of these great events, music, food and good company combine to make for a great New Year's celebration in Provincetown.
Happy New Year!

Christmas Day Brought This Pair of Sun Dogs to Skies Over Herring Cove

On the afternoon of Christmas Day, sun dogs made this spectacular halo, seen from Herring Cove Beach. 

A couple of sun dogs appeared in the western sky off Provincetown shores on the afternoon of Christmas Day, giving a remarkable visual treat to those of us lucky enough to be at Herring Cove Beach during these few moments. A sun dog is a parhelion, the bright spot, or false sun, that can appear about 22 degrees to either side, or both sides, of the sun, and at the same elevation as the sun, with ice crystals in the atmosphere refracting the light in a particular way.
As the sun rises or descends, these bright spots follow, or "dog" the sun, which may explain the name. No one can say for certain where the term came from, but it seems to have been in use since the early 1600s, around the time when the Mayflower Pilgrims landed on Provincetown shores. The easiest time to see these bright spots following the sun is early morning or late afternoon, when the sun is closest to the horizon.
In the photo above a couple of sun dogs (a pair of parhelia) give the appearance of two bright spots on either side of the sun, creating a luminous circle, or a sort of halo around the sun, with the area inside the halo appearing slightly darker than the surrounding sky. These halos can appear when flat, hexagonal ice crystals, often in wispy, cirrus clouds, are drifting in random orientations, refracting the light and bending the rays that pass through them. As these crystals sink through the atmosphere they tend to align vertically, refracting the light horizontally, which can produce sun dogs.
A sun dog will always appear at the same height above the horizon as the sun, whether or not the complete halo is visible. This phenomenon can be seen anywhere around the world, in any season, but it seems to me that we have a few more than our fair share of these remarkable displays here in PTown, and I'm going to chalk that up to the unique quality of the light that surrounds us. The light in Provincetown truly is different from the light in other spots on the globe.
Sun dogs will sometimes exhibit a sort of rainbow effect. with a reddish color nearest to the sun, morphing to blue on the outer edge. See my post Sun Dog Appears Over Race Point, from October of last year. You'll find a rather vibrant photo I managed to get one afternoon, illustrating this rainbow effect.
Of course, this cosmic sight was visible from many vantage points around town, but the view from Herring Cove, looking out over Cape Cod Bay, was particularly splendid. One of the greatest things about living in this amazing spot is just how often each of us ends up "in the right place at the right time" to see the spectacular show that Mother Nature puts on for us, several times a day, from any viewpoint one might choose.

My Own Little Bit of Holiday Joy in PTown

When I was a kid this snowman decorated my childhood home

every holiday season I can remember since I was a tiny tot,

and finding it again, 2,000 miles away and 50 years later,

has put a little joy in my heart.

My wish for you is to find yourself a bit of joy in the season as well.

Happy Holidays!

Provincetown's First Day of Winter Reaches 58 Degrees

Today is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, the first day of winter, and the shortest day of the year. We're not likely to notice the sunset this evening, though, if you can call 4:14 PM evening, since it's likely to be rainy and/or foggy on this unseasonably warm day in Provincetown.
So to mark the occasion, and to glean a bit of joy in keen anticipation of the few moments more of daylight we'll be soaking up over the coming week, I dug out one of my favorite sunset photos from last winter to enjoy in lieu of this afternoon's fog and drizzle. It's the sun setting in my rearview mirror one day last winter as I drove along the edge of the cemetery, on Jerome Smith Road.

I'd have missed this sunset if I had tried to pursue it, so I stopped smack in the middle of the road to savor it.

When I turned onto that little street precisely as the sun was setting, I knew I'd miss it if I tried to turn around and race out to the beach for the view behind me, and, after all, it is Provincetown, so I stopped right there in the middle of the road to luxuriate a bit in that gorgeous, evanescent moment.
In less than three minutes, that moment was gone, the sky was graying, and that, my friends, is the significance of the tiny bit of extra daylight we'll realize by this time next week. Coming down the road in three minutes less light I'd have missed that view, which turns out to be a moment I can recall to soften my heart and raise my spirits, and it's helped in every case where I've tried this little smidgen of therapy over the past year, which was a doozy, by the way.
In seven days the sun will be setting five minutes later, and by the summer we'll be gaining a couple of hours of morning light, and nearly 4 hours in the evening, so the thought of nearly six more hours of daily sunlight to enjoy the stunning beauty that surrounds us is raising my easily-tanked winter spirits.
This too-mild weather we've been having is really terrible for the planet, but when it's combined with a few minutes more of light day by day, and potentially just about enough money saved up this year to get through an uneventful winter without any major setbacks, (we can dream, can't we?) well, all that has me barely dreading the winter at all.
Now, if we can get away with something less than eight feet of snow over these next 15 weeks… we'll have it made.