The Pen in Hand Blog
Illustration by Michael DiMilo
Category:Environment
The Beat Goes On
Illustration by Micheal DiMilo By Geoff Carter Because of heart disease in my family, I recently had to undergo a battery of cardio testing. There was the ECG, the stress test, and the cardio imaging test. For the final test, I was placed on my side and ultrasound machine took pictures of my heart at …
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Oh, Christmas Tree
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter (Originally posted in December, 2019) Each year, in the family holiday tradition, my wife and I venture out to buy our Christmas tree. We’re lucky enough to live across the street from a big tree lot so we don’t have very far to go—we can walk right over. …
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Kickass and Bear Hound Training
kikiciao, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in posing a few questions for Wisconsin residents: 1. Do you know that again this summer bear killers from all over the country will bring their hounds to Wisconsin for “summer training” which means aggressive packs of dogs will rampage …
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Days of the Locust
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We humans are the greatest of Earth’s parasites. –Martin H. Fischer Anyone who’s studied high school biology—or spent a summer evening outdoors in Wisconsin—is familiar with the concept of parasitism, an association between two organisms in which one benefits, or survives, at the expense of another. Mosquitoes, ticks, …
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Kickass Advises Bear
National Park Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in advising the black bear that has been roaming the west Madison area: for god’s sake go back to your den and get back to sleep, it is still winter in all of Wisconsin and if your …
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Kickass and Bear Hounding
Attribution: Wenzel Ignaz Brasch (1708-1761), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, goes along with the keeper on this coldest Wisconsin morning of the year to point out the dumbest circumstance prevailing in a state that was once a respected leader in conservation issues: narcissistic bear hunters, many from other …
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Kickass Does a Book Signing
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be staying home today as the keeper and Phyllis hit the road with their initial dog and pony show for the keeper’s latest book–“Treeson: an APOLOGIA to the trees”– used to make the paper for printing his 35 years of newspaper drivel. The …
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Birds-Eye View
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I received a somewhat surprising gift for my birthday recently. My wife gave me a bird feeder fitted with a digital camera that streams images of our backyard friends directly onto our handheld devices. The pictures are brilliant, sharp, and completely engaging. It’s as if the birds are …
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Kickass and Methane Control
Photo by Scott Bauer (US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is helpless to avoid the keeper’s mind swing that takes him from the current news of feeding seaweed to cows to decrease their methane production, to his farm boy days of harnessing …
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Kickass and Bear Hounders
Wenzel Ignaz Brasch (1708-1761), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to calm the keeper when he considers the outrage of Wisconsin having lost its enlightened, nationally respected conservation reputation to become the ONLY state to allow–even encourage, the insanely cruel activity of summer bear hound training. Wisconsin’s outdoor …
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Oh, Christmas Tree
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter (Originally posted in December, 2019) Each year, in the family holiday tradition, my wife and I venture out to buy our Christmas tree. We’re lucky enough to live across the street from a big tree lot so we don’t have very far to go—we can walk right over. …
Read