Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, stayed home with Phyllis when the keeper drove across town to watch grandson Beau perform lumber making miracles with his portable sawmill. It was most impressive—Beau manipulating misshapen ash logs into usable planks and boards with deft touches of complicated controls. It is agreed …
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Category:Family
Kickass and Ziggy’s Birthday Party
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper came away with a number of questions after he and Phyllis attended Ziggy’s 3rd birthday party on a sandy Wisconsin River beach where there was a platoon of little ones from diapered on up. 1. Can the parents of a diaper-wearing infant …
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Kickass Remembers Pat
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper today in remembering his daughter Pat who died suddenly four years ago after a routine heart pacer installation. Nobody loved life more and did more to wring the fun and adventure out of it than Pat. Nobody was more creative, and …
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Kickass Cruising the River
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis were “Cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon,” with the keeper recalling some of the lyrics from the 1946 hit song that includes “With one you love, the sun above, waiting for the moon.” Along the river …
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Kickass and Uncle Ralph
Attribution: National Archives and Records Administration , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, accompanies the keeper on a memory jaunt back to recall one of his wonderful uncles and the magic of the threshing crew. The tradition of farm women preparing noontime feasts for the neighboring farmers who had assembled …
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Kickass and Visiting Granddaughters
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, labels the keeper a “lucky dog” in that he was on hand when Phyllis’s granddaughters–Alexis and Taylor paid her an overnight visit. Alexis brought along her dog Kai so the keeper would have a conversation companion as Phyllis and Alexis and Taylor reminisced about …
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Kickass and Grandfather Embarrassment
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper in sending a message to his grandsons in the mode of the one that JFK’s grandson recently sent in which he said his grandfather was an embarrassment due in part for spreading utterly harmful bull—-. So listen up here Nick and …
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Kickass and River Meeting
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper and Phyllis’s appreciation of the river-side dinner prepared by son Mike to celebrate a visit by Sarah–Mike’s daughter and the keeper’s granddaughter. In attendance were friends Debbie and Johnny Johnson and their new dog Layla who made a move to …
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Kickass Says Something Nice
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to stay out of the way as the keeper sorts through the childhood advice that he has tried to live by, and hereby eliminates the following: “If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.” Most …
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Kickass and Father’s Day
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noting that there are a number of ways to become a father, points out that heroics are not usually involved. The heroics come later in keeping wayward offspring well fed, secure, clothed and out of trouble with the law. During the time the keeper was …
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Kickass and Phyllis Family
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, congratulates the keeper and Phyllis for the successful hosting of Phyllis’s family gathering during which there were no fisticuffs, shoving or shouting but rather hugs, handshakes and harmony. As is the case with all mothers, Phyllis has not retired from any of her matriarchal …
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Kickass and Males on Mother’s Day
Traceylovesmom, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and the rest of the world’s males on this Mother’s Day to simply say thanks, Mom, and to facetiously ask if you had it to do over again on our behalf, considering the work and worry we caused, would …
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