Provincetown's Holiday Decorations

Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish readers!

During these longest nights of the year, we often fool ourselves by thinking it’s later than it is. Thinking it is close to nine o’clock, I look at the clock to see it’s only six. I shrug, make a cup of tea, put on a sweater, and open a book. Each night, it’s the same.

However, needing a few things at the grocery store, we made the short drive to Provincetown and took our time by driving the smaller roads. The singular little town is not as colorful and festive as Key West, where we were this time last year. That has everything to do with so many houses belonging to people who live elsewhere during the winter season.

The decorations did my heart good. All the while, with much of the town dark and empty, I allowed my imagination to flourish. The streets are narrow, some seem impossibly so. But they’ve always been that way. I lived in Newburyport, which, like Provincetown, has a storied history. Both communities are married to the sea; the simple lives of fishermen, boat builders, and other laborers are reflected in some of the smaller old houses and narrow lanes.