Every Liberty Bell replica

Every Liberty Bell replica

One story at a time

Rust

{reading time: 9 minutes} Hundreds of blood-red handprints cover the bright white Columbus limestone columns and steps of the Ohio Statehouse …

So much cheese

{reading time: 7 minutes} At the Melting Pot restaurant in Wilmington, the main attraction isn’t getting to cook your own food, it’s the full-size Liberty Bell sitting inexplicably in the lobby …

Good vibrations

{reading time: 12 minutes} The parade features a floating (and erupting) volcano stage, a 200-person roller-skating human pyramid, fast food restaurant workers marching in uniform, the Liberty Bell, and (of course) Patrick Duffy …

It tolls for thee

{reading time: 12 minutes} McBride spends his last 35 cents on coffee and rolls. He tramps the streets for 16 hours until remembering the young well-wisher who donated their glass Liberty Bell bank to the cause …

Cracked rear view

{reading time: 5 minutes} Perhaps in an effort to not be known as the home of the world’s largest statue of a racist centenarian, Columbia boasts the world’s largest fire hydrant and a Hootie and the Blowfish memorial …

Resolute

{reading time: < 1 minute} It’s two minutes to midnight on 2020’s last day. I’m sipping a Surly, slouching on a couch somewhere south of comfortable and clean. Dawn’s five …

Kick it

{reading time: < 1 minute} I can be particular about things. Such particularities can present as significant personality flaws, so I look for more benign things to be particular about.  …

Relax

{reading time: < 1 minute} Reflections on a week at sea. A week ago, I shipped my first of 30 daily essays as part of Ship30for30. I’ve had some fun, …

Elevation

{reading time: < 1 minute} Some of the most valuable skills I learned in college were outside the classroom.  Through the summer and holidays, I worked as a porter at …

The Air

{reading time: < 1 minute} Dawn and I woke up in Wall, South Dakota this morning. Wall makes for a nice halfway point on our regular road trips from Colorado …

Heavy

{reading time: < 1 minute} The weight. 2020 was heavy. So heavy, it didn’t start until March and still lasted 16 months (and counting?) Is it over yet? I suppose …

On Principle

{reading time: < 1 minute} Cold turkey. My grandmother quit smoking in her seventies. Cold turkey. Not because smoking is gross. Not because her friends were dying. Not to eke …

Appreciation

{reading time: < 1 minute} There’s no skill to art appreciation.  You like what you like.  If you want to sound fancy, you can toss out words like trompe-l’œil, juxtaposition, …

ShipShape

{reading time: < 1 minute} During the pandemic, I spent my personal creative time writing about cemeteries, and it’s high time I re-enter the world of the living. Pure dumb …