Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper respectfully puts aside all the concerns and comments of the day to bid goodbye to Shirley, his brother Orville’s wife who died yesterday after an incredible life of selfless compassion for all living things. Shirley’s lifelong efforts on behalf of …
Read
Category:Family
Kickass and River Birthday Party
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the family did a bang-up job with a pre birthday celebration for the keeper’s 93rd birthday which occurs 9/11/31. Hosted by Rick and Becky and Mike at their river side digs, the event featured limitless stories from the keeper’s four sons about their growing-up …
Read
Family Values
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter During campaign season, the term “family values” is thrown around like confetti at a ticker-tape parade. Depending on who is using it, the term can encompass anything from banning books, condemning same-sex marriage, or reviling immigrants to lowering middle-class taxes, installing universal healthcare to extolling reproductive rights. In …
Read
Kickass and Sarah Visit
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis were a launch pad for the keeper’s granddaughter Sarah as she returned to her California digs and husband Jessie after a summer’s visit, mostly with her dad Mike on the Wisconsin River at Sauk. It was wonderful to …
Read
Kickass and Phyllis’s New Hip
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports waking up much earlier than usual as Phyllis and the keeper headed across town to get a new right hip joint for Phyllis, the old one being high-mileage and worn out as a result in part of Phyllis having hiked in every national …
Read
Kickass Welcomes Auggie
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis and the rest of the herd in welcoming newest member “August” produced by Natalie and Eliot and coming in as a 21-incher as measured in trout-fishing terms. Welcome, August! You are entering a wild old world at a time …
Read
Kickass and Sisters and Brothers
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, endorses the keeper’s observation that the gathering at the riverside cookout on a recent hot afternoon had a lot to do with Woodington sisters and Stokes brothers with histories dating back to the early days of Madison’s near westside communities. The sisters and brothers …
Read
Kickass and Blind Sunset Viewer
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper and all those who raved about the incredibly colorful sunset of 7/9/24; and in keeping with the feeding of his out-of-control writer’s ego, the keeper remembers a fan letter from a Milwaukee Journal reader after the keeper wrote a column …
Read
Kickass and Meatloaf
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in a generational junk handoff with son Mike and granddaughter Sarah as boxes of files and the keeper’s newspaper clippings were transferred as part of a meatloaf dinner overseen by Boo the family dog on the 5th floor outdoor deck at …
Read
Kickass and Larry’s Birthday
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noting that the keeper is more than familiar with the sons-out-of-control circumstance, adds that he is pretty much unable to assist in the latest problem whereby the keeper’s eldest son Larry very publicly celebrated a birthday marking him as old as the Pyramids. The …
Read
Happy 2024 Father’s Day from the Pen in Hand Blog
Happy Father’s Day!! Photo by Kris Carter
Kickass and 2024 Father’s Day
Photo by Geoff Carter By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in a Happy Father’s Day wish for all concerned, and reminds them that they lucked out in the physical aspects of the reproduction department, having neither womb nor breasts, both of which come with commitments and responsibilities fathers are ignorant of …
Read