Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as Phyllis was lunching with granddaughter Alexis in Westfield, the keeper did a patrol of nostalgia around the area that for 40 plus years starting in 1961 was where he most wanted to be. The A-frame cabin he and friends built along …
Read
Category:Wisconsin
Kickass and Chinook Camping
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in lamenting the undeniable verity that their camping days are in the past, but the memories prevail including those that involved the keeper’s wonderful little Chinook RV with its unique military-type appearance, diesel engine and “Lets go” character. One …
Read
Yearly Cycle
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Every year during the last week of July, the Milwaukee Riverwest neighborhood, an eclectic enclave of artists, musicians, families, and working folks, hosts the Riverwest 24, a twenty-four-hour bicycle race that runs along the neighborhood streets. According to the Riverwest 24 website, the event came about because of efforts by …
Read
Kickass and Phyllis’s Garden
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along word that the keeper is declaring war on the rabbit that is invading Phyllis’s raised garden and eating the tomatoes that the keeper had plans for. The keeper remembers asking his aged father on one of dad’s later birthdays what he had …
Read
Kickass Visits Jerry and Mary Davis
Attribution: Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that in the tradition of “country copy” reporting whereby visits and personal events are duly noted and commented on, “The keeper and Phyllis were drop-in guests at the magnificent prairie and natural gardens of Jerry and Mary Davis near Barneveld where a …
Read
Kickass and Threshing Memories
Attribution: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be napping through the keeper’s obligatory annual threshing time reminiscence. Show the keeper a former farm kid whose memory goes back that far and he will show you someone who romanticizes the time when neighbors assembled around …
Read
Kickass and Weed Edibles
Attribution: Monica Arellano-Ongpin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper’s inclination to concoct “adventure omelets” for his breakfast—using whatever he finds in the fridge, caught up with him yesterday when, along with some leftover kale he found what he took to be a couple chunks of …
Read
Kickass and the Windshield Survey
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis spent part of the 4thof July doing one of their windshield surveys to assure themselves that, despite a political state of chaos, there is a comforting dominant normalcy prevailing in the natural world and it is interesting to …
Read
Kickass and Amish Cultivator
Attribution: Photo by Brad Weaver on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, naps in the first bright morning sunshine of July 2024 as the keeper tries to send a message to the Amish youth up in central Wisconsin who was riding that one-row corn cultivator behind a team of horses as the keeper and Phyllis passed …
Read
Kickass and Travel Notes
Attribution: Yinan Chen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop joins the keeper in offering a few random travel notes on a trip he and Phyllis made to Luca’s Wisconsin Rapids birthday party: *Wisconsin Rapids does have rapids, visible now–with the high water, from the Highway 54 bridge. *Remnants of Wisconsin’s …
Read
Kickass and Summer Bonding
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass the doorstop dog joins the keeper in noting that everyone bonds with the emerging summer in their own way. With Phyllis it is through her raised garden plot that has already produced little radishes and kale for adding to refreshing salads. In the keeper’s case, the summer …
Read
Kickass and Two Day Shopping
Attribution: © European Union, 2024, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, sympathizes with the keeper as he continues to fall even farther behind in trying to adjust to the ever-changing, all-American preoccupation with shopping. The keeper’s resistance to shopping obviously has its origin in his very first solo experience …
Read