Kickass and Spring of 2025

Attribution: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis issuing the following executive order: All Wisconsin residents and visitors shall, within the next few days, immerse themselves in the birthing of the summer of 2025. It is a magnificent thing: trees in colorful new-leaf …
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Kickass and World Mom

Attribution: Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis and the rest of the world to pause this day to think about Mom without whom none of us would be here. Thanks for that, Mom. And we know that if you were in charge, the …
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Kickass and Hummingbirds

Attribution: Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, watched the keeper hang the hummingbird feeder off his and Phyllis’s 5th floor balcony railing and refrained from laughing at such foolish human behavior. (Dogs can laugh but they do it silently so it doesn’t embarrass their keepers who are forever doing dumb and …
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Kickass and Chicago Bobs

Attribution: Photo by Pascal Debrunner on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in welcoming yet another great “Bob” with Chicago ties onto the scene, but he cautions Pope Leo that he will never have the clout in the keeper’s life that his old pal Bob Shephard had. From a snowy Korean hillside with …
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Kickass and Santa Eavesdrop

Attribution: Douglas Rahden, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper tuning in his special communication skills to eavesdrop on a conversation from the North Pole:             Santa: “Do we have any limits on the number of dolls we can deliver to one little girl?”             Elf No. 1: “No Sir. It …
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Kickass and Blaize’s Party

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis thoroughly enjoyed great granddaughter Blaize’s “golden” birthday party hosted by Blaize’s parents Sunny and Kyle. To be three on the third is an important milestone in Blaize’s life and in her pretty party dress she made the most …
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Kickass and Sunrise

Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that things have a way of working out for the keeper whether he deserves it or not.  Say there is going to be a terrific sunrise on May 3, 2025, but the keeper at 5:53 a.m. is in the middle of an important …
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Kickass Can’t Sleep

Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is unable to advise the keeper or Phyllis on why one or the other of them often wakes up in the middle of the night, usually to a bladder demand, and is then unable to get back to sleep and must then lie in …
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