Russell Edling has been in Philly long enough to remember when Fishtown was quiet — “pretty sleepy,” he said. That was more than a decade ago, when he was a fresh Temple grad.
Things have changed a lot since then, both for Fishtown and Edling. A musician who records under the name Golden Apples, Edling just released his fourth album, Shooting Star, in September. It’s a “record of songs about writing songs,” he said — and about trusting your creative instincts.
Edling’s own instincts extend beyond music. He also dabbles in design and helps run Freehand Supply, the art shop he and a friend opened in the neighborhood earlier this year.
“When I first moved here for college in 2008, there was nothing like that in Fishtown,” he said. “I used to bike up to Temple just to get art supplies. It feels good to be able to offer that to people now.”
Here’s how Russell Edling would spend a perfect day in Philadelphia.
7 a.m.
I get up around 7 and I like to go running. I do a casual jog through the neighborhood and loop through Penn Treaty Park, then run around the casino and come home. It feels special to wake up and, in like 15 minutes, be running by a river through a park.
9 a.m.
My wife and I have a favorite spot to get breakfast. It’s this place in South Philly called Comfort Floyd. It’s wonderful. I think it’s the best pancake I’ve ever had. All their food is so good. The ambience is very chill and pleasant, too. We will ride our bikes down there and hang out as long as we want.
After that, we will bop around South Philly a little bit. I really like Brickbat Books. It’s a great spot. They have a lot of art books, a lot of used books, a really great curated selection. They also have some records.
We will probably go to Retrospect on South Street, too. My partner, Mimi, really loves thrifting. I have less of an appetite for it. I get exhausted by the experience sometimes and have to dissociate.
Russell Edling, a musician who goes by the moniker Golden Apples, in his art supply store, Freehand, in Fishtown.
2 p.m.
On our way back up to the neighborhood, we might stop at Freehand just to make sure everything’s going all right there. Then we’ll head home to walk the dog. We have a wonderful black German short hair–pointer–lab mix. We live right by a soccer/baseball field that he loves to run around. You’re not supposed to bring your dogs in there, but everybody does anyway.
Basil cream, confit garlic, ricotta, fontina, and mozzarella atop a white pizza at Pizza Richmond.
3:30 p.m.
If it happens to be a weekend when the Richmond Street Flea is happening, we’ll definitely go to that.
There are a bunch of little shops on Richmond Street, and they all open their doors. Everybody’s out on the street. They have vendors, food, and pop-ups. Even live music.
We’ll end up popping into different shops. There’s a vintage store called Big Top. There’s Launderette Records, which is an incredible record store. There’s a jewelry store called Tshatshke, where my partner and I got our wedding bands. And there’s a great pizza spot — Pizza Richmond. They also have soft-serve ice cream. We’ll hang out at the flea market for a while. Maybe see some music, talk to some friends, and just hang out.
6:30 p.m.
If we’re still out for the day after the flea market, we’re going to see a show. Our favorite venue is Khyber Pass Pub. It’s been around for a really long time. I think Nirvana played there. Guided By Voices played there. So many legendary people have played there over the years. It’s a small, intimate space, but they have great shows all the time, and they have an incredible menu.
Franklin Fountain ice cream: “Our equivalent of a nightcap.”
11 p.m.
Our equivalent of a nightcap is ice cream at Franklin Fountain because they are open until midnight.
There are two Franklin Fountains in the same building. One is 1920s style. The other is 1950s style. No one goes to the 1950s one for some reason, so we go to that one to skip the line. I know it’s very touristy, but I have worked in ice cream throughout my life, and I think it’s the best ice cream in the city.
The Phillies resigning Kyle Schwarber (and extending Rob Thomson): B-
Look, we love Kyle Schwarber. The city loves Kyle Schwarber. Dogs wearing tiny Schwarber jerseys love Kyle Schwarber. The man hits baseballs into orbit, leads the clubhouse, and has basically willed this team to look alive some Septembers when vibes were bleak. Him staying in Philly always felt inevitable.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth we’re all circling: We’ve seen this movie before.
Schwarber is now locked in through age 37. Harper, Turner, Nola — all extended into their late 30s too. The Phillies are doubling (and tripling) down on the same aging core that keeps putting up big regular seasons and then… evaporating in October.
Yes, Schwarber smashed 56 homers in 2025. Yes, he’s historically elite. Yes, Rob Thomson deserved his extension, four straight postseasons don’t grow on trees. But also: This team has repeatedly stalled in the playoffs, and running it back with the same core isn’t exactly a bold correction.
Dombrowski insists they’re “not just bringing the band back,” but right now it feels a lot like the band tuning up the same setlist and we already know how ends: a killer eighth-inning rally in June, a heartbreaking NLDS in October.
If the Phillies really want a different result, they still need a third true power bat behind Schwarber and Harper — the Rhys Hoskins void has been haunting them for three seasons. Until they fill it, this roster is basically an expensive version of “just try that again.”
FanDuel, DraftKings, and other online gambling apps are displayed on a phone in San Francisco, Sept. 26, 2022.
Philly is the No. 1 market for online gambling: D-
Philly finally beat New York and Vegas at something — unfortunately, it’s being the top target for online gambling ads. Companies dropped $37 million this year convincing us that our phones are tiny casinos that fit in our pockets and aren’t ruining our credit scores.
And guess what? It worked! Calls to 1-800-GAMBLER about online betting have nearly tripled since 2021. Penn State says 30% of Pennsylvanians now bet regularly, and about 785,000 people in our commonwealth of 13 millionare estimated to be problem gamblers, which, coincidentally, is also the number of people who think the Sixers will “definitely cover tonight.”
The hotline stories are brutal: drained retirements, missed mortgages, broken marriages, people betting on Russian table tennis at 3 a.m.
Yes, Harrisburg pockets tax money. No, that does not offset the fact that some folks are blowing entire paychecks faster than a Broad Street Line train skips your station.
The Eagles have installed the “positivity rabbit” into the locker room
It showed up today and the offensive line stressed to me they are not sad they just wanted a good vibes bunny 👍 pic.twitter.com/zJi0M93SEr
The Eagles’ positivity rabbit: B for bunny (but trending toward D if they keep losing)
Only in Philadelphia could a three-game skid lead to the installation of a giant inflatable “positivity rabbit” in the Eagles’ locker room, the kind of holiday décor your aunt buys at Lowe’s, except this one is supposed to fix the offense.
According to NBC Sports Philly, the O-line wanted “good vibes.” So the Eagles brought in a five-foot inflatable bunny. Reddit immediately turned it into a full-blown prophecy, a meme, and possibly a new religion. Some fans think it’s the 2025 answer to the underdog masks; others think it looks like the guy who egged Patullo’s house finally got caught.
And then Jason Kelce stepped in with the dagger: “To be honest, I don’t really like the rabbit. It’s a little hokey… It didn’t work. You have to ditch the rabbit.”
The vibes bunny now sits at a dangerous crossroads. If the Birds win out: parade float. Philly embraces it forever. Etsy shops explode. If they don’t: that thing gets thrown on I-95 like HitchBOT.
The Miracle on South 13th Street block party is filled with Christmas lights and decorations in 2021.
Miracle on South 13th Street traffic chaos: C+
South Philly’s favorite holiday tradition is back — and so is the gridlock, horn-honking, and pure, uncut neighborhood rage that comes with funneling half the region down a street roughly the width of a rowhouse hallway.
This year, 6abc reported that Morris Street briefly closed and pushed even more cars onto 13th, turning a beloved Christmas display into a live reenactment of Uncle Frank screaming “Look what you did, you little jerk!” Residents are understandably asking the city the obvious South Philly question: How exactly is an ambulance supposed to get through when Karen from Cherry Hill parks her Highlander on a diagonal to get the perfect photo?
Neighbors want more open-street hours, as in let people walk, let cars chill. Councilmember Squilla says he’s willing to talk about it, which is Philly for “maybe… if everyone stops yelling.”
The former Painted Bride Art Center at 230 Vine St. is shown Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, during demolition to make way for new apartments and commercial space.
The Painted Bride’s long fall: D
The demolition of the Painted Bride isn’t just another development story. It’s the slow, painful end of something that felt uniquely, defiantly Philadelphia. After nearly six years of lawsuits, appeals, zoning wars, neighbor fights, preservation pleas, and enough public testimony to qualify as its own Fringe Festival show, the Old City building that once held Isaiah Zagar’s 7,000-square-foot mosaic is officially coming down.
If you grew up here, walked past it, or just have a pulse, the loss hits hard. The Painted Bride wasn’t a blank canvas waiting for a luxury building. It was already the art. It was the kind of place tourists would stumble upon, go “What is this?” and locals would answer, “Oh, that’s just Philly being weird and beautiful.” Now it’ll be dust, plywood fencing, and a future apartment building trying its best to pretend a few salvaged tiles can replace an entire iconic facade.
Neighbors didn’t want height. The Bride didn’t want the building. The city didn’t want to officially call it historic. The developer wanted to preserve it until a court told him he couldn’t.
This is the kind of loss that feels bigger than one building. Philly’s magic is fragile. Sometimes it’s protected (hello, Wanamaker Organ), and sometimes it’s chipped away, boxed up, and repurposed as lobby decor.
An artist named Ham, the architect of this cold weather performance piece, in Philadelphia, December 11, 2025.
A nearly-naked man standing on a box by the Liberty Bell: A+
Tourists stared. Rangers grew concerned. Locals did what locals always do — tried to figure out if this was art, a bet, or a fantasy-football punishment gone horribly wrong.
Turns out it was art. The man, an artist from Baltimore named Ham (“like the sandwich”), calls the whole thing a commentary on social media. Instead of posting content, he becomes the content.
Ham has done this in New York, Berlin, and even a Norwegian village but claimed Philly gave him the best interactions: confused tourists, National Park rangers offering him clothing, a police officer checking in, and Philadelphians who stopped just long enough to ask, “Buddy… why?”
In a very Philly twist, he’s putting the money people hand him toward an engagement ring, which somehow makes the whole thing feel less like performance art and more like a South Street side quest.
No matter how you interpret it, it’s peak Philadelphia: a nearly naked man shivering by one of America’s most sacred monuments, and the city responding with equal parts curiosity, concern, and “yeah, that tracks.”
Ham planned to stand out there through the weekend — but only until around 4:30 p.m., because even performance artists know better than to be half-naked in Center City after dark.
The buyer: Lulu Tunis, 39, communication specialist
The house: A 1,060-square-foot rowhouse in Brewerytown, with three bedrooms and one bathroom, built in 1925
The price: Listed for $270,000; purchased for $240,000
The agent: Rachel Shaw, Philly Home Girls
The ask: For Lulu Tunis, it was simply time to buy a house. She had been living in Brewerytown for a decade. Her one-bedroom apartment on Girard Avenue was fine, but she wanted more space. More importantly, she felt financially prepared to buy. “I think I was just ready,” Tunis said.
Her needs included three bedrooms, easy street parking, and a backyard large enough for the dogs she often pet sits. Proximity to Girard Avenue was also important. “I didn’t want to be too far off where I normally hang out,” Tunis said. She was OK with only one bathroom and also a fixer-upper. “I’m pretty handy,” she said.
The hardwood staircase leads to three large bedrooms upstairs.
The search: Tunis began looking in April 2024 and narrowed her search to a four-block radius. “There were actually a lot of options,” she said. Her budget was $250,000.
In the 10 homes she saw, she ran into all kinds of strange layouts. Some of the third bedrooms were the size of a closet. Others didn’t have closets. Neither situation would do. Nor would the house with the extra narrow hallways upstairs, or the one that smelled like cat pee. She considered a couple of duplexes in case her family moves in with her down the road, but they needed too much work.
Tunis was OK with just one bathroom but has enjoyed having a remodeled half bath on the first floor.
She fell in love with a house on a corner lot that had great light and tried to make an offer, but someone beat her to it. “I still walk by it all the time,” said Tunis, “and I get a little jealous.”
The appeal: The house Tunis bought charmed her immediately. There was a large, golden mirror near the entrance. “It’s great for ‘fit shots,’” Tunis said. She liked how open the downstairs was and that the laundry was right off the kitchen. The unfinished basement needed some work, but it had plenty of room for storage. Upstairs, Tunis was delighted to find three relatively large bedrooms (each one can easily fit a bed and a desk) and recently redone hardwood floors. It also has 1½ bathrooms.
The large gold mirror that Tunis immediately fell in love with when she stepped inside the house for the first time.
The downstairs floors weren’t in great condition, but Tunis liked that they were original to the home. Despite being dated, the house was full of great features. “I could see the potential,” said Tunis.
The deal: The house was above Tunis’ $250,000 budget, but it had been on the market for 80 days, so her real estate agent suggested they submit a bid under the asking price. Tunis offered $240,000 and the seller accepted immediately.
During negotiations, Tunis asked the seller to pay for termite treatment and a home warranty, which covers the cost of repairing or replacing major appliances and systems. The inspector warned Tunis that the heater would probably have to be replaced within the year. Everything else looked good.
The money: Tunis had a little under $5,000 saved for her home purchase. Her aunt gave her another $5,000. She also received a Keys to Equity grant for $20,000 and a Philly First Home grant for $10,000. She used $17,000 for the down payment and shelled out $16,000 for closing costs. With a 6.375% interest rate, her monthly mortgage payment is $1,392.
The move: Tunis officially closed on Nov. 15 but waited until the end of December to move in. She wanted to tear down the wallpaper in the living room. The process took longer than she expected and forced her to abandon her other pre-move-in home-improvement plans. “I just lost motivation,” Tunis said.
The house has plenty of places for Tunis’ cat, Huey, to nap.
Because Tunis’ new house was only a block from her old apartment, she moved gradually at first, carrying small loads on foot. Her family arrived the day after Christmas to help move bigger stuff. They rented a U-Haul and moved everything in two trips. Tunis’ first night in her new house was Dec. 29. She started a new job the next day.
Any reservations? The biggest disappointment in the house has been the lack of natural light. It’s blocked most of the day by a five-story school across the street. “I only get sun first thing in the morning and then around sunset,” Tunis said. Her plants are suffering.
Tunis’ house is in the middle of the block and across the street from a tall building, so it doesn’t a lot of light.
Life after close: So far, Tunis is happy with the way her bedroom looks, and that’s about it. The rest of the house remains a work in progress. “There’s always some half-built furniture somewhere,” she said.
Her next big project will be replacing the drywall in the back room downstairs. She took a class at West Philly Tool Library and plans to do it herself — or at least try. “I’m not ready to pay anyone yet,” she said. Once the walls are complete, she’s going to paint the kitchen, which is currently bright blue. She’d prefer terra-cotta or dark tan.
Tunis says that even though her space is currently a “hot mess,” she likes coming home to it. “Coming to an apartment was fine. But coming to my house? It’s like ‘OK, this is my home.’ I’ve always got little projects to do.”
Hershey is not just chocolate. OK, it’s a lot of chocolate. But beyond its famous namesake and the company Milton Hershey founded in 1894, this sweet little town has all the ingredients for an easygoing, with-or-without-kids winter weekend getaway — and it’s less than two hours from Philly.
There are an iconic hotel, interesting breweries, year-round geological wonders, and a full holiday glow-up courtesy of Big Cocoa. The Hallmark movie basically writes itself.
If you have taken the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Exit 266, just before you hit Hershey, you’ll pass through Palmyra, home to Rising Sun since 2018. Part of the family-owned Funck Restaurant Group (you can’t spell Funck without fun), this historic-inn-turned-holiday-hangout shines at breakfast, when locals and Hersheypark-bound tourists pile in for sourdough French toast, carne asada omelets, and biscuits smothered in sausage gravy.
The grand dame of the city is Hotel Hershey, a Spanish-style confection of apricot brick-and-green terra-cotta dating to 1933 — and really, there was never any question where you were staying. Sure, cheaper chains cluster nearby, but nowhere else gives the sense of history, scale, and capital-P Place than Milton Hershey’s clubhouse, which he commissioned as an employment engine during the Great Depression. (Listen to the Business Movers podcast’s season 30 on the Hershey company for excellent context.) The spa is fantastic (sometimes cocoa-enhanced), and families will love the newer villas with fireplaces, rain showers, and access to a concierge lounge with nightly firepit s’mores.
📍 100 Hotel Rd., Hershey, Pa. 17033
Explore: Indian Echo Caverns
It might be winter, but the temperature remains a steady 52 degrees inside Indian Echo Caverns in nearby Hummelstown. Opened to the public in 1929 — though used for centuries prior by the Susquehannock and other Native Americans — these caves are an all-season attraction. A guided tour takes you 71 steps below the surface to explore ancient stalactites, fantastical drip formations, and impossibly blue underground pools, while learning why preserving this ecosystem matters.
📍 368 Middletown Rd., Hummelstown, Pa. 17036
Shop: Black Swan Antiques
Another Palmyra gem, Black Swan Antiques houses 60 independent dealers across 20,000 square feet. It’s a treasure hunt in the best way: Amish woodwork, collectible comics, fine oil paintings, dainty cocktail glasses — and almost certainly something you never knew you were looking for.
📍 61 W. Front St. (rear entrance), Palmyra, Pa. 17078
Central Pennsylvania’s biggest winter attraction, Hersheypark’sChristmas Candylane, turns the theme park into a veritable North Pole of twinkling lights and merriment. Santa. Reindeer. Music (including a new show at the park’s theater). You know the drill. Come earlier in the evening if you have the kids, later if you’re without. The park stays open till 8 or 9 most nights. Up the road, Hershey Sweet Lights offers a two-mile, drive-through light show arranged through wooded trails. It’s available as an add-on ticket and is worth it.
📍 100 Hersheypark Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033
Dine: Tröegs Independent Brewing
Tired: Elf on the Shelf. Wired: Mad Elf for yourself. Clocking 11% ABV, this spiced cherry ale is of the most notorious rascals in the Tröegs portfolio, and it can be hard to find in Philly. Going straight to the source guarantees a taste of the yuletide nectar — and maybe a stash for home. The casual, industrial brewpub serves seasonal plates like butternut hummus and pork belly with cheddar-jalapeño grits, and you can splurge on Grand Cru versions of Mad Elf (including bourbon barrel-aged). Pair your meal with a brewery tour ($15), which has been voted best in the country four years running. Booking in advance is recommended.
Proof that not everything sweet in Hershey comes in a wrapper: Desserts Etc. has been the town’s go-to bakery since 2012. After dinner, stop in for a holiday cookie flight paired with miniature lattes and hot chocolates in flavors like gingerbread and white chocolate-cranberry. Keep in mind, the shop close at 9. Don’t let the Mad Elf derail you.
DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have lived in a country home for the past 25 years. When we moved here, our only neighbors were wild turkeys, deer and raccoons. Behind our house were 20 acres of woods, which extended into a cornfield. We were isolated and loved it.
Since then, a housing development has slowly been built around us. Last fall, a couple built a house behind us. Their rear deck is within 20 feet of our property line. The back of their house has large bedroom windows. They cut down all of the beautiful, mature trees from their lot.
I have always had a dusk-to-dawn sensor light at the rear of my house for security reasons and to dissuade raccoons. Now this couple is complaining that because their house is so close to my property line and the trees (which acted as a privacy barrier) are gone, my security light of 25 years is shining into their bedroom windows and disturbing them. They want me to get rid of it.
Of course, my attitude is that we and that light have been here for 25 years. They saw our house and property lines before they chose to build there and remove all their trees. I am not inclined to accommodate them, but I’m open to suggestions from you.
— BRIGHT GUY IN OHIO
DEAR BRIGHT GUY: I do have one. Explain to these new neighbors that your security light was installed to discourage trespassers and wild animals. Then suggest they install blackout curtains or shutters in their bedroom windows to prevent unwanted light from seeping in. If that doesn’t solve the problem, and there is a governing body for your growing neighborhood, ask that the matter be mediated.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend and I have two children and work opposite evening shifts so that one of us is home with the kids at all times. Recently, my best friend from high school surprised me with concert tickets to our favorite band, but the concert is on a night I’m supposed to be with the kids.
I don’t have any friends or family around to babysit the children, so I asked my boyfriend if he would take the night off so that I can go to this concert. He told me the only way he would do that is if I reimburse him for his missed wages (approximately $300). Do you think it’s fair to charge me to watch his own children?
— CONFUSED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
DEAR CONFUSED: Should you reimburse your boyfriend for the wages he will miss if he takes off work so you can attend that concert? If his employer doesn’t provide for personal time off, he will be out the money, and since you are the one altering your agreed-upon arrangement, you SHOULD reimburse him. What the two of you need to work out in the future is some form of plan so your children will be taken care of in the (hopefully unlikely) event that something should happen to both of you at the same time.
DEAR ABBY: As my parents have aged, my father has been misremembering things or making wrong assumptions. It has increasingly gotten on my mom’s nerves (she has also become more impatient and snappy lately), and she has been yelling at him in response. Sometimes, he responds back, but usually he doesn’t.
My sister snapped at them, saying she is tired of their bickering, so they don’t do that around her as often anymore. But anytime I have gotten upset about it or tried to suggest to them how to resolve things, Mom gets upset with me. My mental health isn’t the best right now, so continuing to do that doesn’t seem like a good idea, but I’m at a loss about what to do. Any thoughts?
— UNCERTAIN IN IOWA
DEAR UNCERTAIN: Before this situation grows worse, please understand that it may be necessary for both of your parents to have physical and neurological examinations. If you can arrange for that, PLEASE do. The changes you describe in your father may be signs of dementia, and your mother may be stressed to the point that she can no longer deal with him without losing it.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: My 13-year-old son was getting off the school bus. His friend was in front of him. My son thought it would be funny to take his friend’s water bottle out of his backpack and drop it on the pavement. A few days later, my son got sent to the principal’s office, not because he was in trouble but because the parents had called the school to complain about their son’s scuffed water bottle and wanted it replaced. They asked for $23.
I wrote a check and was tempted to add a snarky comment, but I didn’t. Yes, my son should keep his hands to himself, but the water bottle is still functional. My son apologized. Am I living my life wrong, or is it OK that they just invoiced me like that?
— UNSURE IN ILLINOIS
DEAR UNSURE: Your son may have been trying to be funny when he damaged another student’s property, but the boy’s parents didn’t see the humor in it. The bottle wasn’t the disposable kind, and the parents were not out of line to expect to be reimbursed for your son damaging it. Perhaps HE can reimburse YOU.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: Our family is already picking out items they want after my wife and I pass. They bring the subject up at every gathering. They have even started marking the items they want. My wife and I are 67 and 68. We are healthy and don’t plan on dying for a while. This is starting to upset us both. How to shut them up is my question.
— ANNOYED IN TEXAS
DEAR ANNOYED: Your family gatherings remind me of a pack of slavering wolves surrounding their potential prey. Here’s how to shut them up: At the next gathering, tell your kin that if they keep this up, when you and your wife depart this earthly plane, ALL of your possessions will be going to charity.
On Thursday, when low temps hit 35 degrees and a wild wind whipped down Market Street, a young man climbed on a box in front of the Liberty Bell and stripped to his underwear.
Turns out the nearly naked man on the box is an artist from Baltimore. His name is Ham. “Like the sandwich,” he said. Standing on a platform in his underwear is, evidently, performance art — a commentary on social media. “Rather than using digital platforms to share art and gain exposure,” Ham told me, “I’ve made a physical platform to stand on in public and talk to strangers.”
In other words, he doesn’t want to be a content creator; he wants to be the content and let others do the creating. And they do.
People snap photos of him, take videos of him, and scan the QR code on the corner of his platform, which links to, what else but his Instagram. It’s part performance art, part guerrilla marketing.
“I do recognize that as an artist I need to have some form of digital presence,” Ham said, “I just don’t want to be responsible for creating it.”
He’d rather shiver.
Ham has been standing on platforms in his underwear on and off for two years in several frigid cities, including New York, Berlin, and a small village in Norway. “I use it as my excuse to travel,” he said.
Ham is saving the money people give him for an engagement ring for his girlfriend.
He also uses it as a way to raise money for an engagement ring for his girlfriend — although that wasn’t the original goal. He only decided to write “engagement ring savings fund” on the side of the platform after he grew tired of explaining to people that he wasn’t freezing in his underwear for money.
“I was like, ‘if people have to have a financial explanation for this, I’ll say it’s an engagement ring fund for my girlfriend,’” he said. Ham wouldn’t disclose how much money he has made, just that it’s “more than you might think,” and enough to afford a custom-designed ring in New York. (I’m guessing at least $2,000.)
Ham is enjoying his time in Philadelphia more than other cities.
“This is actually the most fun I’ve had in terms of the quality of interaction and number of people,” he said, visibly shivering.
Several people have approached him to ask him what he is doing. Two National Parks officers checked in after receiving calls of concern. They offered him clothes; he declined. A police officer stopped by to ask if he was OK. One woman wanted to know whether he was promoting a cause.
If you’re interested in seeing a nearly naked man shiver on a box, Ham will be at the Liberty Bell all day Friday and Saturday. He leaves around 4:30 p.m., partly because he’s noticed people don’t like to talk to him as much once it’s dark.
DEAR ABBY: I had a friend, “Mylene,” for many years. We swapped dog-sitting to offset the cost for each other. I helped her when she was sick and broke her foot. I walked her dog whenever she needed me. If a funeral, wedding or family emergency came up, I was always there for her.
An aunt of mine in another state passed away. I would have had to drive there, but her daughter was making the funeral arrangements while in the hospital herself. The funeral was delayed until the next week because my aunt’s body had to be shipped to another state for the funeral.
When I told Mylene, she said she’d keep my dog, but when the date changed, she said she couldn’t do it. “I have to work,” she said. Abby, her dog stays at home while she works, so why is there a problem? I reminded her of everything that I have done to help her out when she needed it, but she didn’t want to help me. (This was two days before I was to travel for the funeral.)
I have tried many times to apologize to Mylene, but she refuses to make amends with me. All she does is send emojis, which I find disgusting. Can’t she call and talk to me like a grown adult to straighten this out? I paid her several times to help her, and this is what I get? What do you think about this?
— DISAPPOINTED IN NORTH CAROLINA
DEAR DISAPPOINTED: You have done plenty for Mylene, but the time to remind her wasn’t when she said she couldn’t take care of your dog. (Is this why you “have tried many times to apologize”?) Mylene may have sent emojis instead of calling because you embarrassed her. When we do favors for others, we shouldn’t do them with the expectation that we will be paid back. What do I think about this? I think you should find another dog-sitter immediately.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: Our daughter and her family live an hour from us. We are both in fair health. Our daughter got a late start on marriage and children. Their girls are 10 and 8. The little one is sweet and shy, but the 10-year-old is a nightmare to be around. She’s very smart but also manipulative. She lies, cheats and steals. She is rude and seems to always do exactly the opposite of what an adult tells her to do. If her parents see her being sassy or ugly, they will put her in timeout for 10 minutes, but nothing ever changes.
None of their neighbors wants this child at their home. To make matters worse, she has begun early puberty. We can’t stand being around this 10-year-old because it wears us out. We love our daughter and would like to have a good relationship with the whole family. Please advise on how we could help or what we should do.
— EXHAUSTED GRANDPARENTS IN OHIO
DEAR GRANDPARENTS: A 10-minute timeout is not enough discipline for a 10-year-old’s consistent bad behavior. Without further intervention, that girl is headed for big trouble. Please suggest to your daughter that she consult a child psychologist about how to get her obviously troubled daughter heading in the right direction before things become worse.
Taking his daughters to the Cherry Hill Public Library was a weekend ritual for David Jastrow, andone intricate sculpture out front always gave his family pause.
“For whatever reason, that sculpture always caught the attention of my daughters. When they were younger, they used to call it the ‘mixed-up elephant,’ which I always thought was funny,” said Jastrow, 51, a township resident who still frequents the library to pick up biographies and mystery novels.
The Cherry Hill Public Library hasupward of 50 works of art inside its halls, in addition to numerous sculptures outside, including the “mixed-up elephant” on the front lawn.That spurred Jastrow to write in to Curious Cherry Hill, The Inquirer’s forum for answering your questions.
“It’s a very abstract piece of artwork. You can kind of see the trunk coming out at one part,” Jastrow said. “I thought maybe it was designed with the elephant in mind in some way, but I doubt it.”
And Jastrow would be right. “Totem” is an 8-foot-tall bronze sculpture that twists into an elaborate structure reaching toward the sky. Sitting to the left of the library’s main entrance since 2009, visitors can’t help but try to decipher its meaning.
Eric Ascalon, the son of award-winning sculptor and stained-glass artist David Ascalon, who crafted “Totem,” said that the different interpretations are exactly what his father intended.
“The sculpture just came from a natural place within his psyche,” Eric Ascalon said. “He feels abstract art is put out there by the artist, but it’s designed to be interpreted in any whatever it means to the viewer.”
Sculpture often takes long periods of time to conceptualize and design. In David Ascalon’s abstract work, he would swiftly sketch a design on a loose piece of paper and lock that design in. Despite a quick conceptualization, the statue took months to build.
David Ascalon, center, the creator of the 8-foot-tall bronze sculpture, “Totem,” installing the statue outside of the Cherry Hill Public Library in 2009. The sculpture stands today at the library, enticing visitors to interpret its abstract form.
“I would say ‘Totem’ is kind of a reflection of his subconscious and just his creative spirit,” Eric Ascalon said.
For David Ascalon, dipping his toes into abstract art was a way to clear his mind from the painstakingly detailed work of his stained-glass windows, saidhis son, who worked alongside his father and the rest of the family at their now-closed West Berlin firm, Ascalon Studios.
After forming Ascalon Studios in 1977, with his father, Maurice, David Ascalon would go on to craft some of the finest stained-glass windows in synagogues and public spaces across the region. His work can be seen in the stained-glass windows in nearby Temple Beth Shalom, and all the way in Harrisburg, where his 15-foot Holocaust Memorial overlooks the Susquehanna River.
It’s not only Ascalon’s work that draws people into Cherry Hill’s library, either.
Walking up to the three-acre property, guests are greeted by what looks like a real couple reading the newspaper on the library lawn — perhaps unusual in 2025 — but step a little closer, and see that they’re not human, but a hyperrealistic sculpture of a man and woman lounging in the grass.
Another abstract sculpture, created in memory of Valerie Porter, a Cherry Hill resident who loved to read but died unexpectedly in 1966 after a neurological condition, sits outside the library. David Ascalon helped restore it in 2016.
Fred Adelson, sculpture committee, Laverne Mann, director of Library, artist David Ascalon of Cherry Hill and Sally Callaghan also of sculpture committee, left to right, outside the Cherry Hill Library.
Inside, several walls are adorned with public art, many created by Cherry Hill residents. Downstairs is a year-round art gallery that promotes a new local artist every month, said library director Tierney Miller.
Such works amount to small glints in human creativity, something that the library continually fosters through its programming, said Miller.
The monthly showcase is so popular among local artists that the gallery space is booked years in advance, “2026 is already full, and we’re booking for 2027 now,” Miller said.
While only Cherry Hill residents can get a free library card — there are paid options for others — anyone can attend its free events.
The sculpture “Totem” by David Ascalon. It was installed in 2009 on the grounds of the newly opened Cherry Hill Public Library.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
DEAR ABBY: I’ve been married to a narcissist for 28 years. He has gaslighted me for our entire 30 years together. He has had a “work wife” and a flirtation with the next-door neighbor hottie, and he paid for two sexy girls’ dinners (and pies to go) because they happened to be in line in front of us.
After an argument, he even called the police on me. (An entire shift of sheriff officers surrounded our house.) I have developed severely negative emotions toward him, especially when he lies to me. We haven’t had sex in a year. We get along fairly well in day-to-day activities, although it bothers me that I have to be chauffeured everywhere I go, including him waiting while I have my hair and nails done.
I’m 67 and feel it is too late to start over. My psychologist can’t understand why I don’t leave. We aren’t destitute, but we’re not wealthy either. I don’t know which way to turn.
— HATING HIM IN MICHIGAN
DEAR HATING HIM: I find it interesting that as threatened as you feel about your husband’s work relationship with his assistant, his flirtation with the hottie next door and two strangers he tried to impress by paying for their takeout dinners (pies included!), HE is so insecure that he must drive you everywhere you go outside the house.
While you think it may be too late for you to start over, you need to clearly define what starting over means to you. I can think of worse fates than freedom from an insecure, possessive, lying narcissist. You are under the care of a licensed psychotherapist. The logical “way to turn” would be in the direction your therapist is trying to guide you.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: I am concerned about a dear friend who has a diagnosis of mild dementia. She has no family here. Her closest relatives are four hours away, and she has minimal contact with them. She was widowed 40 years ago and hasn’t dated. She always said she had no interest in that. She is deeply involved in our community and has a wide, varied circle of friends.
My concern is that while she has always been active in different events — the arts, music, adult ed classes — she is now VERY interested in men. She has spoken to me about her desire for a sexual relationship. She’s 82. I am at a loss about what to tell her and worried about the consequences if she does find a man willing and able. I feel strongly that her desire is a personality change as a result of dementia. Any advice would be appreciated.
— DIFFERENT NOW IN IOWA
DEAR DIFFERENT: Your friend is well enough that she is active in your community. Talk further with your friend about this. She doesn’t have to worry about a pregnancy, but STDs among seniors have more than doubled in the United States in the last decade. Syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia are all on the rise. Lack of knowledge and low condom use are driving these statistics.
Seniors have a right to a sex life if they wish, but they should be well-informed before starting one. Urge your friend to speak with her gynecologist before starting any intimate relationship.
