Silly Old Bear

Susan and I were sitting and eating supper together tonight, and she was telling me about her day. She works at our School District’s 8th grade campus as a Paraprofessional (Teacher’s Aide) in Content Mastery. The teacher with whom she works is a young lady in her mid-20′s named Amber.

Susan and Amber were running a couple of errands together after school, which took them outside the city limits. They passed a field with cows, which naturally provoked a conversation about farm animals. Susan raised pigs when she was in high school, and both of our children raised pigs for 4H and FFA from about 4th or 5th grade on. So Susan knows a lot about pigs. You never know when that might come in handy — like today, for instance.

The conversation turned to the common misperception that pigs are dirty animals. Susan pointed out that pigs are actually very clean (and smart). They get mis-labeled as “dirty” because they have to keep their skin moist during warm weather, which is why they are constantly rolling around in the mud.

QUESTION: Why do pigs HAVE to roll around in the mud to keep their skin moist during warm weather?

I didn’t know the answer to that question until our dinner conversation tonight. Apparently, Amber didn’t know the answer to that question either until today’s farm-animal-conservation road trip. Would you like to know the answer?

ANSWER: Pigs have to roll around in the mud to keep their skin moist during warm weather … because … (wait for it) …

… they have no sweat glands! (Who’da thunk it?)

Here’s a quote from Wikipedia‘s article on “Pig” , with further information: “Pigs do not have functional sweat glands, so pigs cool themselves using water or mud during hot weather. They also use mud as a form of sunscreen to protect their skin from sunburn. Mud also provides protection against flies and parasites.”

Amber sat for a moment quietly contemplating this new revelation, then she said, “That’s going on my list.”

“What list?”, Susan inquired.

“My list of questions for God.”

Ever since Amber was a little girl, she has been compiling a list of questions that she wants to ask God someday. Today’s addition to her list is, “Why did You make pigs without sweat glands?”

What about you? Have you ever wondered about something and thought, “I’m going to ask God about that when I get to heaven”? Have you ever wondered if anyone else had the same thought? I’d love to know what some of your “Questions for God” are! Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

What question or questions would you like to ask God?

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This entry was posted by Paul O'Rear on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 9:31 PM. If you would like to keep track of Comments on this post left by other Silly Old Bear visitors, you can do so through the RSS 2.0 feed. You are invited to leave a Comment. Pinging is currently not allowed.