Kickass and Bear Hunters

Attribution: kikiciao, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper with the annual reminder that of the many things that set Wisconsin summers apart there is the July 1-Aug. 31 outrageous, inhuman, unbelievable bear hound training program. Thousands of bear hounders from all over the country gang into …
Read

Kickass and Wading Streams

Attribution: Photo by Taylor Grote on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, indulges the keeper as he “refishes” a thousand trout streams, often in the company of his mentor John Lawton who taught him about Korbel brandy and the wading rights to streams even as they run through private property. John approached stream rights with a …
Read

Kickass and Book from Grandchildren

Attribution: John Benson from Madison WI, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in constantly marveling at their good fortune in having such outstanding grandchildren, and great grandchildren, of course. Periodically there are occurrences that endorse this judgement, and so it was when Nick and …
Read

Kickass Gets Rained On

Attribution: Photo by Tasos Mansour on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in wondering what the effect might be on an elderly man—real elderly, if he should get seriously rained on due to several highly questionable decisions as one of those booming thunderstorms put its act together with unusual abruptness?  Since he likes …
Read

Kickass and CC the Coyote

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes that there have been a number of inquires regarding the metal animal form that incidentally showed up on a posted photo of the keeper’s new balcony windmill. That animal is the Colorado Coyote–“CC” that was a gift from son Rick many years ago …
Read

Kickass and the New Windmill

Attribution: Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has always wanted a windmill, and now he finally has one, on the 5th floor Vista West balcony where he and Phyllis reside. It is a beautiful thing—green, eight feet tall, and looks exactly like the windmills from the keeper’s …
Read

Kickass and Pony Silver

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper uses “Derby Day” as a reminder that for an amazingly long period in his developing life he was at the mercy of an arrogant, narcissistic member of the horse family, specifically a pony named Silver who may have been named …
Read

Kickass and Cow Manure

Attribution: Wikideas1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in lauding the efforts of Henry Redman, writer for The Wisconsin Examiner, for his comprehensive story regarding the problems associated with cow manure disposal in the case of a factory farm in St. Croix county that wants to expand …
Read

Kickass and Student Demonstrations

Attribution: uwdigitalcollections, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, indulges the keeper as he recalls a bit of his experiences with student demonstrations, the first being when Willard Gonske climbed up into the country school’s lone pine tree and refused to come down. At issue was Willard’s pending discipline for …
Read

Kickass and a Decent Day

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’s busy day beginning with a delicious Phyllis produced brunch with her son Keven and family—Colleen, Luca, and granddaughter Taylor at which the Israel/Palestine issue was deftly solved by getting rid of Netanyahu. This was followed by a failed morel stroll in …
Read