Kickass at the River on Sunday

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper that a family gathering at the river on a Sunday as flawless as yesterday may be a high mark of tribal cohesiveness. With younger members attentive to the keeper’s comfort and appetite as he and Phyllis occupied comfortable chairs, ate …
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Kickass and 5th Anniversary

Attribution: Joseph-Désiré Court , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Alteration courtesy of Bill Stokes and Gina By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the crowd in respecting those two-person relationships that sometimes persevere longer than the magna carta, and this is particularly noteworthy at Vista West where the keeper and Phyllis’s nearest neighbors—Joyce and Jim …
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Kickass and the Rapture

Attribution: Jan Luyken , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, as curious as the keeper is in religious matters, was surprised to learn that the “Rapture” was a concept of evangelical men formulated sometime in the 1880’s, which may explain some of the “Rapture” no-shows as predicted by subsequent religious …
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Kickass and Fire Department Winter

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in doing everything possible to get rid of the ornery 2023-24 winter, and when it had finally retreated to a single filthy snowbank in a corner of the parking lot, someone obviously notified the fire department with a request …
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Kickass and the Morning Start

Attribution: National Archives at College Park , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, along with the keeper and Phyllis, receives a reminder each morning of the miraculous process whereby everyone hurries to get where they are going and another day gets underway. The view of the Gammon Rd/Tree La. Intersection, …
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Kickass and National Library Week

Attribution: Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis and everyone else in pausing to honor the librarians on this special day.  With grandson Bud Andrews a librarian in LaCrosse and with memories of his librarian mother in Barron where he grew up, the keeper has these …
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Kickass and Eclipse Glasses

Attribution: Santeri Viinamäki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be helping the keeper in his project to reclaim and repurpose all the now useless eclipse viewing glasses for viewing TV during the current political campaign. Like the warning about eye damage occurring from viewing the eclipse without the …
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Kickass and the Eclipse

Attribution: Photo by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that the keeper has prepared for the eclipse by practice napping and will be more than ready when the solar system shades are briefly pulled today.  Contrary to the inane blather from MTG the brainless congressional scarecrow identifying the eclipse as a Divine …
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Kickass and Geordan’s Autism

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, was a listener as the keeper and Phyllis entertained Phyllis’s son Kevin and grandson Geordan in one of those wonderful Saturday afternoon family conversations that knows no bounds and runs the gamut from the profound to the absurd with emphasis on the latter and …
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Kickass and the Seagulls

Attribution: Photo by Mariah Hewines on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper is taking a new tack is his efforts to keep a small flock of chickens on the balcony of the Vista West apartment he shares with Phyllis. Finding a lack of enthusiasm on the part of VW management, the keeper …
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Kickass and Madison Sunrise

Attribution: Todd Klassy from Madison, WI, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joined the keeper in watching the sunrise this morning, as his angle of view put some of the first brilliant rays in close proximity to the State Capitol, an obvious omen of a coming day of …
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Kickass and Grandpa Helgeland

Attribution: Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956, artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, and Phyllis know that the keeper is easily entertained so it should be no surprise for them to learn that he—the keeper began his daily memory patrol with an image of his gangly old Norwegian grandfather trotting …
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