If you are driving through Carlinville, there’s a very good chance you’ll spot the 1860’s-era Macoupin County courthouse. It’s tall. It has a dome. It’s beautiful.

Or rather, it’s beautiful, as long as you don’t look at it closely. A close look reveals that things are worrisome over at the courthouse.  The stone balusters are breaking apart, falling to pieces. There’s one place where the stairs have collapsed. Other places, pieces of the stone have just let go of the building. The longer you look, the more damage you see and the worse shape you understand the building is in.

It seemed like a metaphor for, well, a lot of things.

Carlinville, Illinois
photographed 7.2.2022