I am inspired this week to pull another column from the greatest hits file. This is another column I wrote about my late grandmother Jacquita Lewter. This column last published in the July 7, 2023 edition of the News-Record.
Along with her directness, my grandmother was poetic.
This came from her study of the people, but people were not all she studied.
Granny was also a student of animals.
She once told me she couldn’t remember a time that she and my grandfather didn’t have pets.
Over the years, countless creatures (both human and animal alike) found refuge at their house.
They started out with dogs — all sorts of dogs. There were the basenjis, the Weimaraners, the Chihuahuas, the orphan dalmatian and the three-legged German Shephard— just to name a very few.
There were countless cats, milk goats, Pygmy goats, ducks and a lamb.
My grandparents believed children learning to care for animals was a valuable life lesson. They were correct.
My folks followed suit with us, and we are doing the same with our kids.
Animals have wisdom to share.
My grandmother observed something very telling, once, at the Loy Lake Livestock Show. You may remember, I started in community journalism as a child.
She was a retired schoolteacher, turned reporter here at the News-Record. I was her shadow when she went out on assignment.
One of these assignments, each year was the county livestock show in Denison.
We covered four of the schools in the county (just like we still do today); and that meant we had to get a picture of every kid from each of those schools as they came through the sale ring with their animal.
I was, probably, 12 years old the first time I went with her. She gave me a tutorial on the drive over.
“We have to get a picture of every student with their animal,” she said. “I’ll take most of the pictures, at first, and you can help me take notes. Depending on how things go will determine if I let you work the camera — or not. The best pictures are the ones with the student’s face as well as the animal’s face both clear in the shot. This lends to the two different personalities involved. Animals have personalities too, but you can’t just tell an animal to look and say ‘cheese’ like you can a child. So, most of the time, the shot is determined by the animal. Look for them to let you know a good time to close the shutter.”
I listened and took it all in. Who knew there was such an art to covering an FFA stock show?
“Most animals will work with you — except the pigs,” she said. “The pigs are their own bosses. They do as they please. You can’t pose a pig. There is nothing you can do about it. As soon as you think you have a good shot, a pig will turn its head. You just can’t pose a pig.”
She was right. Anyone who has ever been around swine know they are their own boss. When working a livestock show, a photographer must go with the flow — as far as hogs are concerned.
Winston Churchill once said, “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
If a pig doesn’t want to look at you, it won’t look at you.
“You can’t pose a pig” became another one of her unforgettable sayings.
She’d say it when it was livestock show time and when it wasn’t.
It became a metaphor for life. In life, there are some things you just can’t control. Just like you can’t pose a pig, you can’t control everything.
In fact, most things in life we cannot control. It is times like these, no matter how well laid our plans may be, we must be able to adapt.
Beyond adapting, we must learn to be content with the things we cannot change.
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
We can’t control everything and can’t understand everything and that’s okay.
The only thing we can control is ourselves and our reactions to uncontrollable situations.
You can’t pose a pig.
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