Darn that lanolin!

A question brought back to mind by the deluge of precipitation experienced in our area the last couple of days:  why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?

I had held onto that quetion for years as one of the great mysteries of life – largely due to my desire to be distracted from so many weightier matters by the irrelevant.  But then it was ripped from the storehouse of the comforts of my soul by a well-intentioned gentlemen with very practical understanding of lamb-kind.

He walked up to me and simply said, “Lanolin.”

My puzzled look prompted his further explanation.  “That’s the reason sheep don’t shrink in the rain – lanolin.”

I think he mistook my displeasure with a lack of understanding.  He had no clue that I was feeling like a child that just walked in on his dad eating the cookies left out for Santa Claus.  He went on to explain that lanolin (yes, the magic ingredient in so many skin-care products) was secreted in the skin of the sheep and continually coated their wool so that the moisture from rain or any other source would simply roll off.

Can’t a guy just wonder?  Do we have to answer ALL the questions?