The dog waits patiently for me to finish the first cup of tea of the day.

She pretends not to look, but she lies on her bed next to the radiator with one eye on me waiting for the mug to be taken to the sink and as I get up from my chair she shoots out of her bed to the door.

She knows that according to the daily routine she is about to get her "big" walk. The tail wags and if dogs could smile, she smiles. She's happy.

Only, she still has to wait. I have to change my shoes and if it's wild and wet, that means finding boots and some extra socks. Then the scarf goes on: the gloves and the winter jacket. I have to find her lead and the flashing light for her collar (it is impossible to see a black dog on dark mornings) and make sure I have the necessary "scoop the poop" bags in my pocket.

I like to take a camera too because the sunrises at this time of the year are spectacular.

Eventually, after a very patient wait, the front door is finally opened and off the dog runs into the garden willing me with every fibre of her being to get a move on!

She does not mind in the least if it is wet or windy, snowy or sunny. She just gets up and wants out.

There are lots of mysteries in life that I cannot understand - many big and important questions that I simply cannot get my head round, but the burning question for me on these winter mornings, is a very basic one. How does the dog do that?

How can she be lying beside a nice warm radiator one minute and the next be out in a howling gale and driving rain and never bat an eyelid? No wellies. No thermals. No winter jacket for added protection just the fur coat she was born with.

And when we come back in, if I am soaked, I need to change. I need another cuppa to warm me up. I need my slippers.

She comes in, lies down, licks off any excess water and drifts off to sleep!

It seems to me there is a pretty smart dog-designer who has created an animal with an internal thermostat that adjusts to every situation. But it is not just dogs he has made a good job of. Think about the sheep and the cattle in the fields round here and virtually every other animal imaginable, domestic and wild. Each variety is unique and amazing in its build and function.

And birds too. Listen to the geese as they pass overhead. None of these things are the way they are by accident. They are designed - designed even to evolve.

Which leads to another of life's big questions... Why did God create midgies?

But perhaps that's a question for later in the year - Susan Brown.