Attribution: Photo by Chris Briggs on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that while the keeper and Phyllis and their flightless crowd slept through last night, 25.2 million birds were in flight up in the night sky on their way to summer family- rearing haunts as far away as the arctic tundra. That is a …
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Category:Nature
Kickass and Marsh Hawk Eggs
Attribution: Photo by Ben Lande on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in noting on this Easter morning that maybe one of the reasons he has lived so long is to give him time to make amends, or at least apologize for some of the thoughtless things he did as a farm boy …
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Kickass and Birds and Frogs
Attribution: Photo by Elisa Stone on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports a major shift in the keeper’s area of interest this spring from “birding” to “frogging” based on DNR information suggesting that he is less likely to be comfortable in the company of millions of migrating warblers and more at ease consorting with emerging …
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Oh, Christmas Tree
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Each year, in the family holiday tradition, my wife and I venture out to buy our Christmas tree. We’re lucky enough to live across the street from a big tree lot so we don’t have very far to go—we can walk right over. It’s very convenient. It’s also …
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Kickass and Deer-Yard Night
Attribution: Photo by Nathan Karsgaard on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the inevitability of the keeper using the first bitter cold winter day to regale Phyllis with the account of his spending the night in a Bad River deer yard when the temperature dropped to 30 below and he could not buckle his snowshoes …
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Kickass and Leftovers
Attribution: Photo by Gurth Bramall on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be joining the keeper and Phyllis in their efforts at improving relationships with some of the other pack species by viewing the consumption of leftovers as “returning to the kill” in the mode of lions, wolves or hyenas. While there is different terminology …
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Light in the Sky
By Geoff Carter Photos by Geoff Carter My wife and I went up to our cabin in the Wisconsin Northwoods about a week ago to enjoy the fall colors and to relax a little bit. The leaves were a little past their peak, but it was still beautiful. Golden ash, scarlet maple, and yellow birch …
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Time of the Season
The Pen in Hand Blog
Illustration by Michael DiMilo
Kickass and Demonstration for Hope
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in wondering if there are parallels in NATURE to the current trend of humans gathering to hold signs along the streets in an expression of opposition to a vicious predator perched on the mountain top while devouring beloved Alpha …
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Kickass and Lost in Baraboo Bluffs
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis missing and presumed lost somewhere in the Baraboo Bluffs. While getting lost on the twisting roads through the beautiful thick forests now just beginning their leafy color show was more or less their intention, neither one of them anticipated …
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Kickass and Migrating to Paoli
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is at a loss to help the keeper with his current dilemma in which he has this inexplicable urge to go to Paoli, a small crossroads community just south of Madison. It was only through his keen ability to think analytically that the keeper was …
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Kickass and Bat in Store
Attribution: Source: Hasitha Tudugalle Derivative: User:MathKnight, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has a message for the bat that was somewhere in the big barn type office supply store where the keeper and Phyllis were mortgaging their car to buy ink cartridges: “Listen up, Bat. …
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