Welcome to what I’m calling “Thursday,” for lack of anything better. I’ve told you this before, but it has been a while. I think one of the best comic strips ever was “Polly and Her Pals,” by Cliff Sterrett. It began in 1912, and ran throughout the golden age of newspaper comics. Admittedly, it wasn’t always the funniest or most subtle of strips, but it should be noted that subtly was not a hallmark of the era. It was, however, one of the most graphically arresting, inventive and funnily drawn comic strips ever. The strip began life as a “pretty-girl” strip, featuring young Polly Perkins. Pretty-girl strips were a recognized and common genre of comic strips from the birth of comics through the 1960s. If you’ve ever seen early examples of Sterrett’s strips you would agree that some of Polly’s diaphanous fashions were graphically arresting indeed. However, her father Paw and his cat Kitty eventually took over the strip, as comic sidekicks are wont to do. I mention all this, and show you the above example, because I like to think of Arlo’s relationship with Ludwig as homage to the relationship of Paw and Kitty. Long after the advent of Ludwig, my Karmic reward was my cat “Boot,” who actually follows me all around the house and yard, as silent and as faithful as Kitty.