Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as part of Xmas entertainment at the keeper and Phyllis’s Vista West place there was a “game” introduced by Phyllis’s son Kevin in which each player antes up $10 with the kitty then triple wrapped and taped and retaped in a cardboard …
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Category:Holidays
Kickass and Christmas Memories
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, pauses on this Christmas Day to paw through a few memories with the keeper. The keeper goes first: A cold backseat ride in a rattling old Model A Ford through a brittle, star-lite night from Grandma and Grandma Helgeland’s farmhouse, after lutefisk and lefse …
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Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from The Pen in Hand Blog!!
Attribution: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Happy Holidays and a Safe and Prosperous New Year to All!!
The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story
Attribution: Marek Slusarczyk, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions are what makes our holidays special. We are lucky to be able to celebrate …
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Christmas Card
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Phyllis and Bill pass along their Christmas list to aid family and friends in their gift selection: *TIME! Though they have accumulated generous individual supplies they would still like more. And if you can fill any of it with a visit, they are at Vista West on Madison’s …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Christmas on the Border, 1929”
Attribution: YIRO5005, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Christmas on the Border, 1929 by Alberto Rios By Geoff Carter The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions are what makes our holidays special. But …
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Kickass and Polar Plunge
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis did not participate in the Winter solstice activities on the banks of Black Earth Creek in Mazomanie and therefore missed the opportunity to dive into the creek following the great bonfire. Many of the keeper’s family members, however, did …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Fairytale of New York”
Attribution: John Tenniel , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Katzenjammer and Ben Caplan The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions are what makes our holidays special. But some people are hurting. Many are …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: The Christmas Truce
Attribution: Frederic Villiers (1851–1922), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Christmas Truce By Geoff Carter The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions are what makes our holidays special. But some people are …
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Kickass and Crooked Trees
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in this season of special trees by recalling their visit to the “Crooked Bush” in Saskatchewan some years ago near Phyllis birthplace. The Crooked Bush is a three-acre patch of trembling aspen with unique twisted growth patterns that have …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Ice Dance”
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Ice Dance from “Edward Scissorshands” By Geoff Carter The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions are what makes our holidays special. But some people are hurting. Many are …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” by Tom Waits
Happy Holidays from The Pen in Hand Blog
Attribution: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_Card,_1_December_1941,_page_2_of_3.jpg