Readers of this blog have been patient and receptive to my tales about Toby the Puppy, the pooch who was a key family member for nine years.

I lost him to cancer on Dec. 1, 2023, an event that continues to fill me with sadness.

However, upon returning from vacation September, I had the good fortune to meet another Chihuahua mix puppy named Sabol. We fell in love with each other immediately. She joined the family and — as God is my witness — she has exhibited many of the traits that endeared me to Toby.

Sabol is smart. She is so very affectionate. She is a road warrior in the pickup. When it’s bedtime, she responds to the words “It’s bedtime” by running straight to her bed. 

Whereas Toby never got overweight, Sabol joined us with a pudgy midriff. I have put her on a strict meal regimen: A half-cup of kibble and half a Milk Bone in the morning; another half-cup of food and the other Milk Bone half in the afternoon. The result of her eating plan is quite encouraging: she has lost four pounds since September. Sabol has a way to go but she is making exceptional progress. What’s more she has developed a lively spring in her step.

That’s the latest about my new pooch. I will close with this declaration: I must be the luckiest puppy parent imaginable, having hit home runs with two puppies in a row.

Allow me to be crystal clear: I love my new puppy, Sabol, beyond all that is reasonable.

However — and this is not a deal breaker — Sabol, it turns out, loves the rain. She loves it so much that when it pours, I can hardly get her to come into the house.

The sky opened up today in Princeton. It poured off and on for most of the day. What did Sabol do? She wanted to go outside into the deluge!

Understand this: Toby the Puppy hated water. He hated rainfall. He hated lawn sprinklers. The only time Toby tolerated rain occurred when he was taking a bath.

These days, I am left to struggle to keep my new puppy inside where it’s dry … and where she won’t stink to high heaven when her fur dries.

Doggie parenthood does have its challenges.

Political tradition has been tossed angrily into the crapper and, yes, this is a “both sides do it” argument.

I am going to discuss briefly one of those tradition. It’s the one in which the loser of the race places the call to the winner to concede and to pledge support for the new president’s massive undertaking.

Ten days from Election Day and we have heard some of the nastiest campaign stump rhetoric I’ve ever heard.

Who’s to blame for discarding this tradition? Why, it’s Donald John Trump, of course!

He called the 2020 election rigged. He didn’t attend President Biden’s inaugural. He has been steamed ever since at losing the Electoral College and the popular vote by 7 million ballots.

The stump-speech volume in 2024 has been even more harsh. Kamala Harris accuses Trump of being a fascist, echoing opinions expressed by many of Trump’s key military and national security advisers.

For his part, Trump calls Harris a dim bulb, “a nasty person,” and “the worst vice president in history.”

Obviously, one of these people is going to win. Will the loser be able to suck it up long enough to call the winner and resume the traditional concession call?

If Harris is the winner, don’t think for a moment that Trump will concede anything. If hell freezes over and Trump wins, I wouldn’t bet on Harris making the call, either.