Kickass and Walking to School

Attribution: Don O’Brien from Piketon, Ohio, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, accompanies the keeper as he walks the mile and a half to the country school.             Up Swans hill and past the fields where big-eared jackrabbits sometimes leaped from hiding and loped off like dancers.             Feeling …
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Kickass and Windshield Survey

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis are on deck this post Labor Day weekend with the results of a state-of-the-state report based on an extensive central Wisconsin windshield survey.             *Rain needed–Corn and bean fields showing distress with pointed and discolored leaves.             *Trees peaking out …
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Kickass and Corporate Labor Day

Attribution: Richard Hurd from Leland, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis wonder on this Labor Day weekend how corporations, having been judged by the Supine Court to be “people” for political purposes, will be celebrating? Will the corporations gather their loved ones …
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Kickass and Ingle with One Arm

Attribution: Gail Leenstra, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in acknowledging the Paralympic Games now underway in Paris, with remembering life- long friend Ingle who lost an arm as a result of a boyhood accident. As a fishing/golfing companion Ingle bested the keeper on a regular …
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Kickass and Life-Saving Bra

Attribution: Saigon Soul, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, prompted by another writer’s account of a dangerously stupid swimming decision, vividly remembers after all this time the night he jumped into the closed and dark Barron swimming pool with friends, apparently forgetting that as a …
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Kickass and Lost Watch

Attribution: Photo by Patrick Hawlik on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that as the keeper works at doing his part on the exciting world stage he is often distracted by personal issues that tend to take precedent and detract from his otherwise valuable cultural contributions. Most recently the keeper lost his watch, and though …
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Kickass and the Heatwave

Attribution: Geralt, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in preparing for the dangerous heat wave about to descend on the Midwest, their main strategy being the “Stationary Excessive Hydration Exercise Program”—SEHEP,  whereby they occupy recliners in air conditioned quarters while taking in large amounts of liquid …
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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 …
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Kickass and Sleep Deprivation

Attributon: SecretName101, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’s observation that within his and Phyllis’s time zone and age group there is serious fallout from three days of sleep deprivation caused by the DNC Chicago celebration. To hear the major speakers of the evening, it was necessary …
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