Kickass and Back to the Water by Bill Stokes

Photo by Bill Stokes

Kickass, the doorstop dog, observed the 4^th of July action from under the bed as the keeper and Phyllis joined the multitudes in a symbolic return to the water from whence their species came.

That water attraction, in its identity as a living and recreational cultural prize, has been honored by grandson Steve and his wife Lindsey with a spectacular house on the wooded shores of Lake Wisconsin.

As a passel of pollywog-age youngsters showed the way with non-stop watery cavorting and the adults consumed a holiday feast and stayed hydrated with drinks, the warm July 4^th,2026 went off without the usual bang which was of great comfort to the dogs and the keeper.

A very young fisherman out on the end of the dock caught a bluegill and after a mild celebration he put the fish back in the lake. And if he said anything to the fish the keeper was too far away to hear what it was. If the keeper had been asked to offer a parting comment to the bluegill, he might have said something about coming back to share the water with the fishes as the land becomes increasingly uninhabitable.

Then he, the Keeper,might simply have complimented Steve and Lindsey on their magnificent, imaginative shoreline dwelling and suggested to Phyllis that the birdbath “Lake Phyllis” out on their Vista West balcony deck is more than just something for the birds.