The Pen in Hand Blog
Illustration by Michael DiMilo
The Pen in Hand Blog
Illustration by Michael DiMilo
Attribution: W.carter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Photo by Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noting the keeper’s long experience in dealing with seasonal rotations, consulted with him on the appropriate reaction to the first “dusting” of snow on portions of the local landscape. The keeper’s response follows: “Don’t cry. Crying only turns tears into …
Read
Attribution: Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis harboring warm feelings about Alaska with its embrace of nature and its frontier character. It comes up in breakfast conversations as a possible place to go and hide from the …
Read
Attribution: Mennonite Church USA Archives, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons by Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis, acknowledging their cellular kinship with all living things—trees, creatures, insects, etc., note the preparations for the coming winter that are hard wired into the evolutionary survival programs of most life forms—except for humans. …
Read
Attribution:Mathias Krumbholz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, asks the keeper and Phyllis to explain their decision to reschedule a planned drive across mid Wisconsin just because advance weather information tells them they would be in the middle of a band of possible severe thunderstorms most of the afternoon. …
Read
Attribution: Gus Polly, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis will be filling in from time to time for some of those dedicated experts who are being fired by the Musky Money Monkeys who now infest and manage the WHITE White House. Starting with …
Read
Attribution: Photo by Luismi Sánchez on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, turns it over to the keeper on this very windy day to remember a story his dear old dad told of his own boyhood in North Dakota when he hooked his coaster wagon to big tumbleweeds and let the wind pull him across the …
Read
Attribution: U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Justin Weaver, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cautions the keeper to restrain his inclination to smugness over the fact that when winter comes roaring back from its AWOL status with ice and snow and cold wind, the keeper’s “Independent Living” lifestyle at …
Read
Attribution: Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along cold weather survival tips from the keeper and Phyllis: *Though authenticated cases of someone actually “freezing their ass off” are not all that common, do not take unnecessary chances by venturing out. *In responding to the question “Is …
Read
Attribution: –Stöhrfall (talk) 11:31, 6 May 2010 (UTC), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog notes the keeper’s evolving lifetime reaction of waking up to a fresh snow cover: *Oh Boy! Let’s get out there and make snow angels and a snowman! *There will be a skating party somewhere tonight. …
Read
The Pen in Hand Blog
Illustration by Michael DiMilo
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The American Southeast has recently been ravaged by not one, but two, monstrous hurricanes. Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia were first slammed by Helene which brought record storm surges and rainfall to the area. Up to twenty-four and thirty inches of rain fell in …
Read