DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — Our first overnight trip away from home resulted early in a case of my new puppy, Sabol, showing her intelligence.

She’s a keeper.

Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of what happened.

My brother -in-law and I went out for breakfast this morning. I sent Sabol outside to take care of business before we left. She came back inside and I closed the back door to the patio. We were gone for an hour and returned home.

Awaiting us in the driveway was my pooch. Her tail was wagging and she said something that I interpreted to be, “Hey Dad and Uncle Mike, I’m glad you came back!”

How in the world did she get out?

I checked the back door. It was wide open. Sabol pushed it open and ventured out to wait for us to return.

This is an astounding event on a couple of levels. First, she was in a location that was new to her. She could have panicked and run off, but she didn’t. Second, and this is my niece Mary’s theory, she might have recognized that my Ranger pickup was in the driveway; Sabol might have realized I was coming back. She applied her canine common sense.

I merely concluded that I didn’t allow the door to latch shut when I let my puppy into the house.

Yep. This smart girl has earned her spurs.

Every single trip I make along US Highway 380 through McKinney, Princeton and Farmersville only reminds me of what lies ahead for North Texas motorists in the months ahead.

We are facing a traffic-flow nightmare as the state highway department starts breaking up asphalt along the highway.

They’re going to close down two of four existing lanes of traffic soon to begin work to expand 380 from four lanes to six.

Then in 2027, the Texas Department of Transportation is going to accept bids to build a series of freeway bypasses around several cities aimed at relieving traffic congestion.

Until all of this is done, ladies and gents, you and I are headed for an endless stream of frustration, teeth-gnashing, four-letter words and assorted expressions of angst as we do battle with our neighbors and friends seeking to navigate the congestion nightmare that awaits all of us.

This is the part where I will pray for favorable weather to enable the crews to finish their monumental task sooner rather than later.

What is wrong with this picture? Oregon played UCLA last night in what was billed as the Ducks’ “Big 10 opener.”

What? Huh? Are you kidding me?

The Ducks smoked the Bruins, which did my heart good. Those of us who grew up on the Pacific Coast, who cheered for Pac 12 teams’ success against the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl at the end of every college football season, are finding it a little tough to swallow that the Ducks, Huskies, Trojans and Bruins are now part of the hated Big 10 … which has morphed into the Big Monstrosity

I get that money drives everything these days. The Pac 12 no longer really exists. The Big 10 is now the Big 20 (or maybe it’s 30). What’s more, the Ducks beat the Bruins in the Rose Bowl, which doubles as the Bruins’ home field when it isn’t serving as the site for the “Granddaddy of All Bowls.”

I am going to realign my own gridiron bias.

Now that Ron DeSantis is back home doing the job to which he was elected, it is time tp take the Florida governor’s warning with utmost seriousness.

OK, so the Republican governor didn’t fare well as a candidate for his party’s presidential nomination. However, with Hurricane Helene bearing down on his state, Gov. DeSantis has informed his constituents that they are facing almost certain death if they try to ride out the storm surge that is coming their way.

My overarching issue at this moment is this: Where do you go and how do you get there?

As I watch Floridians and other coastal residents deal with the increasing frequency and ferocity of these storms, all I am left to do is pray for their safety and hope for all I can muster that they are able to get out of the path of the surge.

DeSantis says the Gulf tide might swell by 20 feet — or more — as Hurricane Helene heads for landfall. It has been called a Category 4 hurricane, which is about as horrific as it gets.

I now must wonder aloud whether the governor is having second thoughts about the way he dismissed climate change while he campaigned for the presidency. My view from North Texas? It’s real, governor.

I am going to set that debate aside for another time and simply join the rest of the nation in wishing you and your constituents well as you fight this seaborne monster.

ATHENS, Greece — I am preparing to do something I had not done in three previous trips to this wonderful spot in southeastern Europe.

I will spend several nights basking under the Mediterranean sunshine on an island in the middle of the Aegean Sea.

My cousin, her son and I are boarding a ferry soon for Naxos, the largest island of the Cyclades group of islands. Naxos sits about 4 hours away from Pireaus, the chief port of Greece.

Is this a big deal? Well … not really. Except that it’s new to me. Which I suppose makes it a brief blog topic.

I am told Naxos is well-equipped with broadband internet capability, which I hope means I’ll be able to watch Kamala Harris dismantle Donald Trump on the debate stage in a couple of days.

I’ll also continue to post blog items.

I will spend the bulk of my time on Naxos doing … absolutely nothing!

Hey, I am on vacation!

ATHENS, Greece — Very soon, I will be boarding a ferry for a four-hour boat ride to Naxos in the middle of the Aegean Sea.

That is where I might encounter the first challenge of the vacation I am enjoying. I hope it is the only challenge I will face!

How will I be able to watch the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump?

Will there be streaming services available on the island? Will I be able to watch it live? Will I have to rely on YouTube or other media outlets to deliver tbe “news” online?

I do know this: I want it to be a game-changer. I want VP Harris to smash the former TV host to smithereens.

My life as a relatively newly single man has presented plenty of opportunities for me to consider … and they mainly deal with ways to consider spending some of ample idle time.

I lost my wife, Kathy Anne, to glioblastoma about 18 months ago and my journey has finally found plenty of light at the end of a dark passage through grief and pain.

I attended a regular meeting today of the Farmersville Rotary Club, of which I have been a member for a few years. The program today came from Nichole Perez, community outreach director for Meals on Wheels of Collin County.

Almost immediately upon learning of her program, the ol’ light bulb began flashing in my noggin. Meals on Wheels needs drivers to deliver meals to shut-in residents, old folks who cannot get out of the house, and others who for various reasons are unable to do some essential things.

I volunteered today to deliver meals to these folks. I intend to concentrate those efforts in the Princeton area, where I live.

Perez talked about Meals on Wheels need to do a background check on drivers. Upon clearing the background check, I will be good to do … with a bit of training to tell me how to handle the food and related issues.

My calendar already is beginning to fill up. I have the Rotary Club meeting schedule each week. I meet with a lay minister at a church to which I belong; he counsels me on the path I am taking since losing my beloved Kathy Anne. An assistant pastor at our church has formed a group of mostly older men who have lost their wives; it’s called a “Widowers’ Club,” but I don’t like referring to myself as a widower, as the term only reminds me of what is so painfully obvious. I recently joined the Princeton chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which meets monthly to plan its involvement in other community events.

This new gig does enable me to embark on another path in my life’s journey. I’ve never done this kind of volunteer work, so it’s going to be a major kick in the buttock to try this new thing. Perez said each delivery date can be done in “about an hour.”

But she said that depends on how much drivers chat with the clients they serve. Hmmm. I do tend to be a chatterbox when I meet strangers.

Therein lies another challenge that awaits me.