Kickass and Long-Ago Summers

Attribution: BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives from Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, shares the speakers’ couch with the keeper on this post 4th of July morning to allow him to revive other such mornings when the rural communities across the Midwest measured them by:             *Cavernous hay mows stuffed to the …
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Kickass and Back to the Water

Photo by Bill Stokes Photo by Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, observed the 4th of July action from under the bed as the keeper and Phyllis joined the multitudes in a symbolic return to the water from whence their species came. That water attraction, in its identity as a living and recreational cultural prize, has …
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Kickass and Fireworks

Attribuion: Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, on behalf of all dogs, condemns the use of exploding fireworks as the main tool for celebrating the country’s July 4th birthday. The BANG! BOOM! -practice is, as Kickass sees it, one of those brainless ritual holiday accouterments that once in the hands of profiteers becomes …
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Kickass Does a Book Reading

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will nap today on behalf of the Keeper and Phyllis as they are off to Quarry Ridge Retirement Community to do a book reading program for the keeper’s novel Ah, the Women! It is the story of how women take over the world to save …
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Kickass and the Lost Wedding Note

Attribution: makaiyla willis, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis found the following note lying on the floor near the elevator.              â€œDear Gert:             â€œWell, Louie has done it again, we are on our way to the Taylor Swift wedding and of course we do …
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Kickass and the Country’s Birthdays

Attribution: Emanuel Leutze, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, in this time of celebrating the USA’s birthday, honors the keeper’s claim for the stage to reflect on the 200th birthday back in 1976 when he spent several weeks on a fascinating tour of meaningful historic sites for a series of …
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Kickass and the Honeymoon Trees

Attribution: usfs_Eastern_Region, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, accepts the following from the keeper and Phyllis: It is the honeymoon of the trees–these torrid days of early summer.  Lush in their new green-leaf finery, the trees sway against each other in a biological passion that dominates all other such …
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Kickass Goes to the Fair

Attribution:Rhode Island Collection, Providence Public Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper honors the season of summer fairs by recalling the Barron County Fair in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, when he and his cousin Rob watched a young woman catch a bullet in her teeth. He …
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Kickass and Libraries

Attribution: Photo by Pauline Loroy on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper wallowing one more time in the wonderful world of librarians as word comes that grandson Bud is in the librarian ranks with an official certifying document that says as much as he works at his library job in the Fox River …
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Kickass and Haircut Memories

Attribution: F. Holland Day, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has been patronizing the school across the parking lot for his haircuts, enjoying the attention of a young ambitious student who snips at him gently under an instructor’s instructions. Like all things in the keeper’s …
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Kickass and Canada Fishing

Attribution: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archivesvia Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_of_the_Woods_Sunset_(Klamath_County,Oregon_scenic_images)(klaDA0246).jpg By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper misses the summer fishing trips to Canada and is prone to wallowing in selective memory exercise, like the one about Antoine the seriously hung-over guide who clung to the back of the boat on a …
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